Correlation Between Body Mass Index and Progressive Grafted Bone in Cleft Patients

Although childhood obesity is a growing issue, the association between BMI and the progressive bone mineral density (BMD) in grafted tissue after secondar alveolar grafting (ABG) remains little reviewed. This study compared the correlation between BMI and the progressive BMD after ABG procedure. Thirty-nine patients with unilateral or bilateral clefts were enrolled. ABG was performed at mixed-dentition age. Patient were classified into underweight, normal weight, and overweight or obese based on age- and sex-adjusted BMI. BMD was expressed in Hounsfield unit (HU) on cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), which was obtained at 6 months (T1) and 2 years (T2) postoperatively. Calibrated BMD (HUgrafted tissue/HUpogonion¬, BMDc) was used for further analysis.