Morphological changes in the nasal base formation after secondary alveolar bone grafting for patients with alveolar clefts.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of secondary alveolar bone graft (SABG) on the three-dimensional (3D) position of the nasal alar base in patients with unilateral alveolar clefts. The study examined 50 patients with unilateral alveolar clefts who underwent SABG in our department between 2017 and 2022 using two modalities: 3D facial photographs and computed tomography (CT) taken preoperatively and 12 months after surgery. The two modalities were applied in all cases, and anteroposterior changes in the skin at the cleft-side nasal alar base were compared with those on the non-cleft side. The anteroposterior movements of the cleft-side nasal alar base, as revealed by 3D facial photographs and CT, were -0.03 ± 0.90 mm and +0.31 ± 0.82 mm, respectively. Neither outcome showed a statistically significant difference between cleft and non-cleft sides. The anterior movements of the bone surface beneath the nasal alar base of the cleft and non-cleft side, as measured by CT images, were +0.20 ± 1.38 mm and -0.61 ± 1.03 mm, respectively, showing a statistically significant difference (p = 0.001, Student's t-test). The results suggest that SABG does not cause 3D changes in the nasal alar base.