Pilot study of factors contributing to canine impaction after secondary alveolar bone grafting in unilateral cleft lip and palate patients

Alveolar bone grafting (ABG) is broadly performed for cleft lip and palate patients. The rate of canine impaction post-ABG is much higher than the prevalence of canine impaction in non-cleft patients. This pilot study was designed to investigate factors involved in canine eruption failure after ABG and to predict the possibility of canine impaction in unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) patients. This retrospective observational study examined 45 patients with UCLP (mean age 7.9 years) classified into an impacted group (n = 9) and a spontaneously erupted group (n = 36). From 3D images, we measured lateral incisor presence or absence, lateral incisor position on the cleft side, canine position, movement change, cleft volume, and canine and first premolar overlap-area. Multivariate logistic regression analysis using independent variables indicated significant differences in results, selecting highly relevant items. Multivariate analysis indicated a significant association between the overlap-area between the canine and the first premolar at pre-ABG (p = 0.038) and the distance between the cleft side cusp tips of canine and the lateral cleft margin of pre-ABG (p = 0.005). Results suggest that canine impaction is predictable at an early stage in pre-ABG and show the possibility of comprehensive diagnosis of canine impaction using computed tomography.