Use of a Cortico-Cancellous Bone Graft in the Repair of a Cleft Palate in a Dog

We report the successful use of a cortico-cancellous bone graft to repair a cleft of the secondary palate in a 6-month-old Akita dog. The cleft extended from the incisal papilla to the posterior border of the soft palate. It was 10 mm wide in the hard palate and 16 mm in the soft palate. The cleft was repaired using the "push-back" method with single-pedicled mucoperiosteal flaps to close the cleft in the soft tissues, and a free bone graft from the tibia (cortex with cancellous bone attached) to fill the defect in the hard palate. Two and one-half years after the operation the graft was indistinguishable from surrounding bone on radiographs. Maxillary growth appeared to have progressed normally, resulting in normal occlusion.