Placement of endosseous implants into bone-grafted alveolar clefts: assessment of bone bridge after autogenous particulate cancellous bone and marrow graft.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the bone quantity of alveoli grafted with autogenous particulate cancellous bone and marrow for implant placement in patients with alveolar clefts. Bone height, bone width, and interdental alveolar crest level were evaluated using computed tomography and periapical radiographs. The grafted alveoli underwent resorption 3-dimensionally, and the interdental alveolar crest level also decreased. The latter seemed to be the critical factor for implant surgery, as almost half of the grafted alveoli required another bone graft within 24 months after the original bone graft to increase the interdental alveolar crest level for endosseous implant placement. These data suggest that alveoli grafted with particulate cancellous bone and marrow are suitable for implant placement, but that the loss of width and height of the bone bridge must also be considered.