Evaluation of Displacement with Rapid Maxillary Expansion, Miniscrew-Assisted Rapid Maxillary Expansion, and Miniscrew-Assisted Rapid Maxillary Expansion Combined with Micro-Osteoperforations: A Comparative Finite Element Analysis.

Background And Objectives: Maxillary expansion is one of the most commonly advocated treatment approaches for the management of the maxillary deficiency in the transverse plane and is possible because of the presence of mid-palatal suture. This finite element method (FEM) study was taken to evaluate the stress pattern and displacement in the screw and its adjacent structures used in three different treatment modalities, such as rapid maxillary expansion (RME), mini-implant-assisted rapid palatal expansion (MARPE), and MARPE in conjunction with micro-osteoperforations.

Materials And Methods: An adult human dried skull, cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) of the skull, and FEM and associated software (GEOMAGIC) were included.