A bone plate assembly and method of using the same in a patient is disclosed that includes a ratchet mechanism that allows unidirectional incremental adjustment of the overall length of the bone plate assembly. The bone plate assembly is capable of being created to have various stages. One illustrative bone plate assembly includes an intermediate plate component having a first tongue extending upwardly from a central portion of the intermediate plate component and a second tongue extending downwardly from the central portion of the intermediate plate component. First and second end plate components are included that have first and second tongue grooves that are adapted to slidably engage at least a portion of the first and second tongues. A first and second ratchet mechanism is included that allows the first and second end plate components to be incrementally ratcheted toward the central portion of the intermediate plate component.
