Surgically Assisted Palatal Expansion With a Bone-Borne Self-Retaining Palatal Expander

Purpose

To evaluate the use of a bone-borne self-retaining palatal expander to treat transverse maxillary hypoplasia in place of conventional tooth-borne expanders in conjunction with surgically assisted palatal expansion.

Patients and Methods

Ten patients with transverse maxillary hypoplasia underwent surgically assisted palatal expansion with insertion of a bone-borne self-retaining palatal expander from May 2005 to December 2006.

Results

All 10 patients had adequate transverse expansion. Nine of 10 patients had symmetric expansion. Twelve months postexpansion, none of the patients had transverse relapse.

Conclusion

Surgically assisted palatal expansion with a bone-borne self-retaining palatal expander is a viable alternative to more conventional palatal expanders.