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Rapid-maxillary-expansion induced rhinological effects: a retrospective multicenter study

  • Rhinology
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Abstract

Conventional dental-borne rapid maxillary expansion (RME) leads to a widening of the airways, followed by improved nasal breathing. Although combined skeletal–dental appliances are nowadays being inserted increasingly often and provide a force at the center of resistance in the nasomaxillary complex, no study exists so far that shows whether this treatment may improve the expansionary effect on the airways. In this study, low-dose computed tomography (CT) images from 31 patients (average age 14.63 ± 0.38 years) were examined retrospectively. Both records (T0 = before expansion and T1 = immediately after maximum expansion) were taken in a time interval of 25 days to avoid growth influence. Five patients were treated with Hyrax RME, 6 patients with Hybrid RME, and 20 patients with acrylic cap RME. The total airway volume increased highly significantly (mean +7272.6 mm3; P < 0.001, power = 0.998), representing an average airway expansion of +11.54 % (2.35 %/mm activation). While the nasopharynx and oropharynx showed highly significant expansion (P < 0.000, power = 0.999), the airway at the laryngopharynx did not change significantly (P > 0.779, power = 0.05). Although the patients were significantly older in the Hybrid RME group (P = 0.006), the positive rhinological effects were comparable within all groups of different appliances (P > 0.316). Hybrid RME may, therefore, be an advisable procedure in patients with nasomaxillary impairment and pronounced patient’s age.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. Michael Robertson for editing the English of the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors hereby declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical standard

Formal consent is not required for this type of study. The retrospective processing and analysis of low-dose CTs was reviewed and approved by the ethics committee for the state of Saarland (Homburg, Germany; license number 170/12).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthodontics, Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Melih Motro

  2. Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Mustafa Ateş & Nazan Küçükkeleş

  3. Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Marburg University, Marburg, Germany

    Michael Schauseil, Saskia Mainusch & Heike Korbmacher-Steiner

  4. Orthodontic praxis, Traben-Trarbach, Germany

    Björn Ludwig

  5. Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Homburg University, Homburg, Germany

    Björn Ludwig

  6. Trakya University, 22030, Edirne, Turkey

    Berna Zorkun

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  1. Melih Motro
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Correspondence to Michael Schauseil.

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Motro, M., Schauseil, M., Ludwig, B. et al. Rapid-maxillary-expansion induced rhinological effects: a retrospective multicenter study. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 273, 679–687 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-015-3584-y

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