Alveolar cleft is a bony defect in the gum of the mouth, which affects approximately 75% of cleft lip or cleft lip and palate patients. Failure to repair this defect may give rise to many problems. Although alveolar bone grafting has been widely accepted by professionals within cleft care, there is still controversy around the technique, timing, site from which bone is taken and whether artificial bone substitutes offer any benefits. One question is whether the type of graft material using artificial bone materials alone might have similar success to the traditional bone harvested from the hip when assessed clinically, by radiographic images and in reducing problems in the operated area.
This review found two small studies, one comparing a graft using a new material with a traditional graft, the other looking at the benefit of applying a special type of glue to the graft. Both studies were considered to be of poor quality and so no conclusions can be reached about whether either of these new techniques is better than the traditional type of graft.