“…Surprisingly, in the literature, most authors currently use the term “primary alveoloplasty” only when cleft surgery is performed in very young children (younger than 18 months old). Accordingly, “secondary alveoloplasty” is the term used when surgery is performed in older children, and it is referred to as “early” secondary alveoloplasty if the surgery is performed on children between 4 and 11 years old and “late” secondary alveoloplasty if the surgery is performed on children older than 11 years (Delaire et al, 1969; Ronchi et al, 1995; Precious, 2003). Even Brusati and colleagues (1992), who carried out alveoloplasty at the same time as primary palate closure on children between 16 and 36 months old, used the term “early secondary gingivoperiosteoplasty.” This surprising use of the term “secondary alveoloplasty” first appeared in the 1970s (Boyle and Sands, 1972; Bergland et al, 1986) and was probably used then to differentiate this surgical procedure from primary alveoloplasty with early bone grafting (Schrudde and Stellmach, 1958; Schuchardt and Pfeifer, 1960; Johanson and Ohlsson, 1961; Nylen et al, 1974), which was rapidly abandoned because it led to growth disorders of the maxilla (Jolleys and Robertson, 1972; Berkowitz, 1977; Henkel and Gundlach, 1997).…”