Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the effects of rapid maxillary expansion (RME) and surgically assisted RME (SARME) in the sagittal, vertical, and transverse planes. Study design: Orthodontic records of 28 patients were selected retrospectively and divided into two treatment groups. Group 1 comprised 14 patients (4 boys, 10 girls, mean age 14.2 ± 0.74 years) who had been treated with RME. Group 2 comprised 14 patients (4 boys, 10 girls, mean age 19.6 ± 2.73 years) who had been treated with SARME. Measurements were performed on lateral and posteroanterior cephalograms and dental casts obtained before (T0) and after (T1) expansion. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in soft tissue convexity angle, anterior face height, and upper nasal width in group 1, and in U1–NA length and posterior face height measurements in group 2 (P<.05). In both groups significant increases were found in interpremolar, intermolar, maxillary, and lower nasal widths and in anterior lower face height (P<.01). Statistically significant intergroup differences were found in the ANB angle (P<.05) and maxillary intercanine (P<.01) measurements. Conclusion: With both RME and SARME, successful expansion of maxillary dentoalveolar structures and nasal cavity and palatal widening were achieved. Sagittal plane effects of SARME were similar to those of RME on dental skeletal and airway measurements. Key words: Surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion, Rapid maxillary expansion, Airway, Transverse deficiency.
Highlights
Rapid maxillary expansion (RME) is a common treatment modality for younger patients for correction of maxillary transversal deficiency [1]
Maturation level of the patient is an important factor when considering the effects of RME on craniofacial structures, and RME treatment has been found more effective in children than in adults [3]
Only the effects of RME on transverse plane have been evaluated since the major differences and treatment goals focus on this plane [8,10,13,14]; the effects of a treatment modality should be evaluated in all planes of the cranium
Summary
Rapid maxillary expansion (RME) is a common treatment modality for younger patients for correction of maxillary transversal deficiency [1]. It may be possible to achieve maxillary expansion in older patients, the results are neither as predictable nor as stable [4] At this point, surgically assisted RME (SARME) is the alternative for adolescents, and in adults, SARME is the only option for widening the maxilla; complications of the surgical procedure [5] and financial cost limit the applicability of the treatment to all adult patients. Studies comparing RME and SARME are relatively few [1,8,15,16,17,18], and to our knowledge, none of them has compared their effects on dental, skeletal, and airway structures in sagittal, vertical, and transverse planes. The null hypothesis to be tested states that no difference exists between the effects of the two treatment methods in three planes
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