Background: Among the alternatives for early treatment of cleft lip and palate (LPC), preoperative orthopedics has been proposed for the alignment of alveolar ridges. Currently, there are two treatment philosophies regarding whether or not using preoperative orthopedics because there is still much controversy on its actual effects. Purpose: To determine the reported usefulness of preoperative orthopedics in molding alveolar ridges in 0-to-12-monthold children with unilateral complete LPC. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was carried out using the Medline, Elsevier, Cochrane, and EBSCO databases. Search descriptors were pre-surgical orthopedics, alveolar ridge, alveolar molding, and unilateral complete cleft lip and palate. After reading of titles, abstracts, and full articles, the quality and validity of studies were determined through the Consort, Strobe, and Quorum checklists. Data were classified by the level of evidence and grades of recommendation based on the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network guidelines. Results: From a total of 4738 titles we identified 88 articles that met the inclusion criteria. After analyzing the files, we only found three articles that provided adequate evidence on the topic of study. Conclusion: There is not enough scientific evidence to support the usefulness of preoperative orthopedics in shaping alveolar ridges. There are other influencing factors that should also be studied.KEYWORDSpreoperative orthopedics; alveolar ridge; alveolar molding; unilateral complete cleft lip andpalate