Evaluation of alveolar bone grafting: a survey of ACPA teams.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the management of alveolar clefts by cleft palate and craniofacial teams in North America.


METHODS
An anonymous survey was mailed to 240 American Cleft Palate- Craniofacial Association teams across North America regarding alveolar bone grafting. The questionnaire included multiple questions about each team's approach to alveolar bone grafting and options for the missing tooth.


RESULTS
Consensus was achieved in three areas: 90% of centers performed secondary alveolar bone grafting, 78% performed grafting between ages 6 and 9 years, and iliac crest donor site was the most popular site (83%). There was no consensus with respect to dental criteria for the timing of grafting, follow-up x-rays, or the use of a grading system for evaluating results. In addition, there was no consensus on the management of the missing tooth.


CONCLUSIONS
There is wide acceptance of secondary bone grafting and there is a consensus for the age of grafting (6 to 9 years) and donor site (iliac crest). The disturbing finding was the lack of postoperative x-ray evaluation of the results. With so much variability in management, the use of a routine, standardized scale to measure postoperative results would allow for better outcome studies in alveolar bone grafting.
Murthy
Ananth S
AS
Plastic Surgery, Summa Health System, Akron, Ohio, USA.
Lehman
James A
JA
D000293:Adolescent; D000539:Alveolar Process / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D000543:Alveoloplasty / Q000379:methods*; D000848:Anodontia / Q000628:therapy; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D032921:Consensus; D003625:Data Collection; D003829:Denture, Partial; D006801:Humans; D009656:North America; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D011859:Radiography; D014087:Tooth Movement Techniques