Objective: The aim of this study was to find a correlation between the timing of secondary alveolar bone grafting and orthodontics regarding the success of the graft. Design: A systematic review of English articles using 5 search engines was done using the appropriate keywords. The articles were screened, reviewed and assessed by 2 independent authors.
Inclusion criteria: Randomized controlled trials, case control trials, and retrospective studies describing the relation between alveolar bone grafting and orthodontic treatment were included. Outcome: Success of alveolar bone grafting. Results: - 3 CCTs ,2 retrospective studies and one RCT were included from a total of 2600 studies screened. Two researches focused on pre-grafting orthodontics while 2 focused on post-grafting orthodontics and the retrospective studies compared both pre- and post-grafting expansion. Conclusions: Qualitative analysis of the results suggests that multiple areas of research could be opened up by the conclusions of the 6 researches. The evidence they provide, although significant in the sense of opening doors for future research, remains insufficient to draw a consensus for the effect of timing of alveolar bone grafting and orthodontic treatment.