Affiliations: Department of Orthodontics, Hunan Key Laboratory of Oral Health Research & Hunan 3D Printing Engineering Research Center of Oral Care & Hunan Clinical Research Center of Oral Major Diseases and Oral Health & Xiangya Stomatological Hospital & Xiangya School of Stomatology, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Yanqin Lu, Department of Orthodontics, Hunan Key Laboratory of Oral Health Research & Hunan 3D Printing Engineering Research Center of Oral Care & Hunan Clinical Research Center of Oral Major Diseases and Oral Health & Xiangya Stomatological Hospital & Xiangya School of Stomatology, Central South University, No. 72 Xiangya Road, Kaifu District, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, China. Tel.: +86 13973102658; E-mail: 213031@csu.edu.cn.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the changes of maxillary expansion and upper airway structure after microimplant assisted rapid palatal expansion (MARPE) using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). METHODS:This retrospective study included 19 subjects (15 females and 4 males) aged 15–29 years old (mean, 19.95±4.39 years) with maxillary transverse deficiency treated with MARPE. CBCT was performed at the initial diagnosis and 3 months after MARPE treatment. Measurements were taken to evaluate the amount of total expansion, skeletal expansion, and dental expansion at the maxillary first premolar (P1), second premolar (P2), first molar (M1), second molar (M2) regions and upper airway changes. RESULTS:After MARPE treatment, the maxillary skeletal base expansion, skeletal expansion, alveolar expansion and dental expansion were achieved at the P1, P2, M1, M2 region. The nasopharyngeal volume significantly increased 8.48% after MARPE treatment compared with that before the treatment (P < 0.05). The change of nasal lateral width (NLW) was also significantly different before and after MARPE (P < 0.05). However, there were no statistically significant change in the oropharyngeal, palatopharyngeal, glossopharyngeal and airway total volume (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:MARPE can produce more transverse bone expansion, relieve maxillary transverse deficiency and improve upper airway ventilation.
