[A postero-anterior cephalometric assessment of UCLP patients before and after rapid maxillary expansion].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of rapid maxillary expansion on skeletal,dental,and nasal structures.


METHODS
8 UCLP patients in the period of permanent teeth (mean: 14 years old) were treated with rapid maxillary expansion. Pretreatment and posttreatment postero-anterior cephalograms were taken to evaluate the changes of the indicators. The data were analyzed with paired t-test.


RESULTS
The indicators of the width of the nasal cavity, the upper intermolars, and the upper base bone had significant change (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Following dental arch expansion, the cleft side had remarkable skeletal alteration, while the alteration in noncleft side was mainly in teeth position. The nasal cavity had been expanded. It's more symmetrical between the relevant parts.
Department of Orthodontics, Shanghai Second Medical University, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai 200011, China.
Yu-fen
YF
Qian
Xiao-jun
XJ
Ding
Yong-qing
YQ
Yan