Rapid maxillary expansion: Dimensional changes of the upper airway

Objectives: The purpose of this review was to evaluate dimensional changes of the upper airway and transverse width in orthodontic patients after rapid maxillary expansion therapy (RME).
Methods: 10 patients (10 to 18 years old) underwent pre and post RME treatment evaluations with a bimaxillary type tomography, obtained with a 9500 Cone Beam equipment. The maxillary width before and after the disjunction, in the coronal image, it was measured in the palatal alveolar table at the level of the first permanent upper molars. The data was exported to the STATA software version 14. To determine if there are statistical differences, the student's T-test was used.
Results: The area corresponding to the P-plane shows statistically significant changes in all the subjects studied. The lower linear planes of the upper airway, the EP plane and the SP plane, did not show statistically significant changes.
Conclusions: The results of this study confirm the findings of previous research in which RME produces a significant expansion of the maxilla and there is an increase in total volume of the upper airway in all subjects studied, which would be explained by a direct relationship with the changes obtained in relation to the upper limit of the retropalatine segment.