Treatment Effects of Miniscrew-Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion in Adolescents Using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the treatment effects of miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion using dental cone-beam computed tomography (CT) in adolescents. The study group comprised 20 patients who underwent cone-beam CT before and after miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion (MARPE). Paired t-test and analysis of variance were used to analyze significant differences before and after treatment. Skeletal and dentoalveolar measurements indicated highly significant differences, with these expansions increasing progressively in the downward direction. The extent of anterior midpalatal suture expansion was significantly greater than that of the posterior part. Significant expansion was observed at the nasal width and inter-zygomaticomaxillary suture distance. MARPE can expand the craniofacial skeletal structure to the uppermost nasal bone and lateral to the zygomaticomaxillary sutures. The expansion was greater in the lower maxillary part, demonstrating an overall triangular maxillary expansion. The midpalatal suture opening was greater in the anterior than in the posterior side, whereas the posterior suture opening proportion was higher than that of the conventional rapid palatal expansion previously reported.