Alveolar ridge notching as a predictor for secondary bone grafting in incomplete alveolar clefts.

Objectives: To clarify the need for secondary alveolar bone grafting (ABG) in incomplete alveolar clefts identified clinically from its appearance and test the usefulness of alveolar ridge notching in the edentulous stage as a predictor for ABG.

Design: A prospective, cross-sectional study comparing three groups of patients at two stages.

Patients: Twenty-four patients with unilateral incomplete cleft of primary palate who underwent either no surgery or cheiloplasty only.