Expansion of the mandibular arch in children during the mixed dentition period--a clinical study.
A review of the dental literature revealed relatively few studies on the expansion of the mandibular dental arch. The present study attempted expansion of the mandibular arch using a Bihelix appliance. The subjects were 16 children, exhibiting crowding, age ranges from 7 to 11 years. The mandible was expanded 2.0 mm every 3 months. Significant expansion, not only of the individual tooth inter-arch dimensions but also of the overall arch length, was obtained during the period of incisor tooth replacement. The mode of expansion was classified as follows: Type I, those, which showed no effect on the apical base; Type II, those which showed no consistency of the measurement lines. In this study, 6 of 16 cases were classified as type I and 10 cases as type II. Expansion was continued over a period of 1.5 to 3 years. We concluded that considerable lateral expansion of the mandibular arch is possible using the Bihelix appliance. It is suggested that this might contribute greatly to non-extraction orthodontic treatment. Further studies are recommended.
Maki
Kenshi
K
Kyushu Dental College, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, 2-6-1 Manazuru, Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu 803-8580, Japan. k-maki@kyu-dent.ac.jp
Sorada
Yasuhiro
Y
Ansai
Toshihiro
T
Nishioka
Takahiro
T
Braham
Raymond L
RL
Konoo
Tetsuro
T
D002648:Child; D003724:Dental Arch / Q000254:growth & development*; D003818:Dentition, Mixed; D006801:Humans; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000628:therapy*; D008334:Mandible / Q000254:growth & development*; D009967:Orthodontic Appliances; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*