Are there bone dehiscences in maxillary canines orthodontically moved into the grafted alveolar cleft?

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study was to assess the bone morphology of teeth mesialized into the grafted region in patients with unilateral alveolar cleft.

METHODS

The sample comprised 30 patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate with a mean age of 20.5 years. High-resolution cone-beam computed tomography images of the maxilla were obtained 6 months to 2 years after comprehensive orthodontic treatment. The contralateral canines and lateral incisors were used as controls. Axial section was used to measure the bone thickness, and cross section was used to measure the alveolar crest height using the cementoenamel junction as a reference. Paired t tests and Wilcoxon tests were used to compare the cleft and noncleft sides (P <0.05).

RESULTS

High individual variability was found. In general, the canines in the cleft side had statistically thinner buccal bone plates than the contralateral teeth. No differences between the cleft and noncleft sides were found for the lingual bone plate thickness. The canine on the cleft side showed a slightly greater distance between the lingual alveolar crest and the cementoenamel junction than the lateral incisor in the noncleft side.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate, mesial orthodontic movement of the maxillary canines into the grafted alveolar cleft results in acceptable buccal and lingual periodontal morphology.