A long-term study of rapid maxillary expansion and bone grafting in cleft lip and palate patients.

Rapid maxillary expansion followed by iliac crest bone grafting was a common procedure in cleft lip and palate patients until a few years ago. This study is based on patients who had rapid expansion in the early 1960s to late 1970s. The object of the study was to assess the long-term stability of the expansion. Over 80 sets of records were used. 65 per cent of the patients had iliac crest bone grafting at the completion of the expansion. Transverse measurements of the maxillary arch both anteriorly and posteriorly, showed that bone grafting did not alter the overall pattern of relapse. In cases where all posterior retention had been removed, the relapse was almost complete, whether bone grafted or not.