Facial Growth of Patients With Complete Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Treated With Alveolar Bone Grafting at 6 Years

Objective:To investigate the effect that alveolar bone grafting (ABG) around 6 years of age has on facial growth by assessing craniofacial growth outcomes.Design:Retrospective cohort study.Setting:North American cleft centers.Participants:A total of 33 children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate who were consecutively treated with secondary ABG around 6 years of age were compared to 148 participants from 4 centers with late secondary ABG.Methods:Preorthodontic standardized lateral cephalometric radiographs were analyzed and traced according to the Americleft Study protocol. Sixteen angular and 2 proportional measurements were performed. The outcomes of all ABG were assessed using the Standardized Way to Assess Graft scale. Measurement means from the study center (SC) were compared to 4 North American centers using analysis of variance and Welch modified t tests, and P < .05 was considered statistically significant.Results:For the SC, the mean age (SD) at the time of bone graft was 5.85 (0.71) y...