MaxillaryDistractionOsteogenesisincleft palate patients

Conventional orthognathic surgery, such as Le Fort I osteotomy, is often performed for correction of maxillary hypoplasia. An alternative intervention is distraction ostoegenesis, which achieves bone lengthening by gradual mechanical distraction.Twenty patients with maxilla hypoplasia were treated with fixed orthodontic appliances and an intraoral distraction device during the last 15 years. Lateral cephalograms were obtained one day after insertion of the distractor, at the end of distraction, after removal, and one year after removal of the distractor.