Posterior Crossbite, Upper Airway Clinical Trial
Official title:
Evaluation of the Effect of Different Rapid Maxillary Expansion Appliances on Airway by Acoustic Rhinometry: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Rapid maxillary expansion (RME) is an orthodontic treatment based on the principle of opening the midpalatal suture with the effect of orthopedic forces. The aim of this randomized clinical study was to evaluate and compare the effects of tooth-borne, tooth-tissue borne, and bone-borne rapid maxillary expanders on nasal airway by using AR. The null hypothesis was that there is no difference for the effect on nasal airway between the appliances.
Introduction: The aim of this 3-arm parallel trial was to compare the effects of tooth-borne
(Hyrax), tooth tissue-borne (KBME) and bone-borne (MIDME) rapid maxillary expansion (RME)
appliances on nasal airway with acoustic rhinometry (AR).
Methods: Fourty-six 12- to 14-years-old patients with narrow maxilla were randomly allocated
into 3 study groups according to the type of RME appliance: tooth-borne, tooth tissue-borne
and bone-borne. Participants were recruited from the Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of
Dentistry, Izmir Katip Celebi University, Turkey. During the RME treatment, the same protocol
was applied to all patients and the expansion screws were activated twice a day (0.4 mm/day).
Computer-generated randomization was used with group allocation concealed using opaque,
sealed envelopes. The outcome assessor was blinded; however, it was not feasible to blind
either operator or patients. The primary outcome of this study was the correction of
posterior crossbite. Secondary outcomes included AR assessment of nasal airway dimensions as
nasal volume, the minimal cross-sectional area (MCA) 1 and 2. AR measurements were obtained
before treatment (T0), after active expansion (T1), and at 3 months-follow-up (T2). One-way
analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a Bonferroni test was used for inter-group comparison and
two-way ANOVA was used for intra-group evalaution.
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