Abstract
Purpose: A successful surgical treatment for a wide alveolar cleft with bone graft is difficult to achieve due to several factors such as the limitation of gingivoperiosteal flap, the presence of large scar tissues, and the poor blood circulation. To overcome these problems, alveolar distraction osteogenesis using Liou alveolar distraction device was applied. We analyzed the consequences of this surgical treatment. Method: Between 2006 January and 2007 August, we have conducted analysis on the methods and consequences of Liou alveolar distraction osteogenesis for 6 patients. The age of patients was 12 years and 6 months in average. The follow up period was 19 months in average. The Reverse L osteotomy followed by the placement of the Liou alveolar distraction device was performed. After serial distraction, the distractor was removed after 5 months of the process of osteogenesis, and the result was analyzed using the computed tomography and the x-ray films of the alveolar bone and the teeth. Results: The alveolar cleft with 12.5 mm in average width was filled with 8.5 mm of newly formed bone tissue in average width after 5 months of osteogenesis. Among the 6 cases, 5 required the additional bone graft and 1 case only required the gingivoperioplasty. The newly formed bone tissues did not show any signs of bone resorption. However, a considerable degree of teeth displacement was shown. Conclusion: For the alveolar cleft too wide to be reconstructed by a general bone graft, it is strongly recommended to perform the reverse L osteotomy of the cleft side with Liou alveolar distraction device to initiate the alveolar osteogenesis. However, the migrated teeth showed some degree of relapse, thus, the orthodontic treatment is essential following the distraction osteogenesis treatment.
