Nonsurgical Rapid Maxillary Expansion Effects on Craniofacial Structures in Young Adult Females

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the skeletal effects of nonsurgical rapid maxillary expansion (RME) on craniofacial structures with bone scintigraphy in young adult female subjects. Materials and Methods: The material of the present study consists of scintigraphic records taken from 17 early adult females treated with RME. All patients had a bilateral posterior crossbite, transverse maxillary deficiency, deep palatal vault, and dental crowding at the beginning of the treatment. The age range of the patients was 16.1 to 18.8 years, and the mean age was 17.3 ± 0.86 years. Bone scintigraphy records were obtained before RME (T1), during the splitting of the midpalatal suture (T2), and after the end of active widening period (T3). Repeated measure analysis of variance was used to assess the differences between the periods. In addition, Bonferroni multiple comparison tests were applied to the measurements at which F values were found to be statistically significant. Results: According to the statistical analysi...