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Arch Facial Plast Surg. 2005;7:405.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Tibesar et al¹ have published an exciting, innovative study in this issue of the ARCHIVES in which distraction osteogenesis (DO) was used to close surgically created cleft palates in adult dogs. Current palatoplasty techniques result in inhibition of facial growth requiring orthognathic surgery in approximately 25% of patients. The use of DO to close clefts of the palate is an attempt to reduce the forces that commonly result in decreased midfacial growth. Nonetheless, this study has many limitations and should be regarded as a feasibility study.

The authors demonstrated that a bony closure of the palate cleft occurred in 5 of 8 dogs. In humans, this might imply stability of the maxillary arch with an avoidance of commonly seen lateral cross-bites. Typically, after orthodontic correction, the lack of palatal bony support requires a long-term use of retainers to avoid relapse of the cross-bite. Since long-term noncompliance is common, this . . . [Full Text of this Article]

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Craig W. Senders, MD

RELATED ARTICLE

Distraction Osteogenesis for Cleft Palate Closure in a Canine Model
Robert J. Tibesar, Eric J. Moore, and Uldis Bite
Arch Facial Plast Surg. 2005;7(6):398-404.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT