Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The primary goals for alveolar cleft grafting are to gain and maintain bone in the cleft area that provides continuity for the maxillary segments, allowing the stability of the maxilla and building the bony foundation for the erupting cleft teeth and closure of the oronasal communication. The current study compared the effectiveness of the double iliac corticocancellous bone blocks technique versus the particulate autogenous spongy bone graft from the anterior iliac crest in alveolar cleft grafting in the mixed dentition stage. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The current randomized clinical study included 18 patients with unilateral alveolar clefts. They were divided into two equal groups according to the technique used for grafting; group (1) included nine patients in whom grafting with double iliac corticocancellous bone blocks with cancellous bone particulates in between was used (study group), and group (2) included nine patients in whom conventional cancellous particulate bone grafting from anterior iliac crest was used (Control group). RESULTS: Nine months postoperatively, the study group showed superior results regarding graft width, height, and volume compared to the control group in the current study. CONCLUSION: Regarding the graft success factors represented by the maintained graft labio-palatal width, graft height, and total graft volume, the technique of double iliac corticocancellous bone blocks was markedly effective in reconstructing alveolar clefts when compared with the conventional grafting technique that utilized cancellous particulate bone alone from the anterior iliac crest. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The double iliac corticocancellous bone blocks technique maintained the grafted bone volume, width, and height.