Changes in Rapid and Slow Maxillary Expansion

Objectives: Objective: The aim of this prospective clinical trial was to evaluate sagittal and vertical changes immediately after rapid maxillary expansion (RME) and slow maxillary expansion (SME) in patients with mixed dentition.
Methods: Method: Fifty-seven patients in mixed dentition and maxillary transverse deficiency were selected and randomly divided in two groups. Group 1 consisted in 28 individuals (mean age of 8.18) submitted to RME. Group 2 consisted in 29 individuals (mean age of 8.43) submitted to SME. Tooth-tissue-borne expanders activated at 8 mm were used in both groups. All subjects performed cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) before installation of expanders (T1) and after screw stabilization (T2). Patients who did not follow the research parameters were excluded from the data analysis. The sample resulted in 21 patients in Group 1 (mean age of 8.43) and 16 patients in Group 2 (mean age of 8.7). The data were analyzed by two-way repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the Sidak test with a significance level of 5%.
Results: There were no statistical differences between T1 and T2 in both groups at SNA, SNB, ANB, SNperp-A, SN-ANS, SNperp.PP and SN.GoGn.
Conclusions: Conclusion: There were no significant sagittal or vertical changes immediately after RME and SME.