title: Follow up of surgically-assisted rapid maxillary expansion after 6.5 years: skeletal and dental effects.
abstract: Surgically-assisted rapid maxillary expansion (SARME) is a technique used to widen the maxilla, and we present the results of our long-term follow up (6.5 years). Seventeen patients who had been treated with SARME and prospectively followed were invited for long-term follow up using dental casts and posteroanterior cephalograms. The following measurements were made on the dental casts: transverse distances at canine, premolar, and molar level, length of the arch, and width and depth of the palate at premolar and molar level. The distance between the left and right nasal bases and the widening of the inferior maxilla were measured on the posteroanterior cephalograms. Boneborne and toothborne distractors were used in 8 and 9 patients, respectively. In the study of dental casts, there was a significant increase in transverse width in the canine (P<0.001), premolar (P<0.001) and molar (P=0,001) and these remained stable in the long term. The arch length did not increase significantly, but the palatal width increased significantly in the premolar (P<0.001) and molar (P=0.001) regions. No effect was seen in palatal depth. On the posteroanterior cephalograms the width of the inferior part of the maxilla was increased, but not significantly so. There were no significant changes at the nasal base. We conclude that SARME is a predictable technique to widen the maxilla in the long term.
authors.affiliation: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Erasmus Medical Centre, 's Gravendijkwal 230, 3015CE Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.degijt@erasmusmc.nl.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: de Gijt
authors.affiliation: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Erasmus Medical Centre, 's Gravendijkwal 230, 3015CE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gül
authors.affiliation: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Erasmus Medical Centre, 's Gravendijkwal 230, 3015CE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: S T H
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Tjoa
authors.affiliation: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Erasmus Medical Centre, 's Gravendijkwal 230, 3015CE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Wolvius
authors.affiliation: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Erasmus Medical Centre, 's Gravendijkwal 230, 3015CE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: K G H
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: van der Wal
authors.affiliation: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Erasmus Medical Centre, 's Gravendijkwal 230, 3015CE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Koudstaal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002508:Cephalometry; D003735:Dental Casting Technique; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008437:Maxilla / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D019857:Osteogenesis, Distraction / Q000379:methods; D010155:Palatal Expansion Technique / Q000009:adverse effects; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dental; Long-term; SARME; SARPE; Skeletal