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Alveolar cleft grafting is a surgical procedure, used to repair the defect in the upper jaw that is associated with cleft lip and palate, where the bone defect is filled with bone or bone substitute, and any holes between the mouth and the nose are closed.
An alveolar cleft is a failure of the premaxilla to fuse with the upper jaw leaving a defect in the bone. It is common in people with cleft palate and is also associated with holes between the mouth and the nose that affects speech, and allows fluid to move into the nose when eating and drinking.
Surgeries on the roof of the mouth early in life typically close the larger hole between the mouth and the nose but do not repair the defect in the bone, or any holes further forward between the palate and the upper lip. About the age of 8, just before the eye teeth are about to erupt into the bone defect , braces are used to first widen the upper jaw, and position the premaxilla. Then, a surgery places bone or a bone substitute in the defect to allow the premaxilla to fuse to the rest of the maxilla, provide bone for eruption of the canine, and close any remaining holes between the mouth and nose. If completed early, the canine teeth will erupt into the mouth with good bone support and remain healthy.