Role of Pterygomaxillary Junction Morphology in Surgically Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion: A Finite Element Analysis Study.

Objective: In the present study, the morphological characteristic of the pterygomaxillary junction (PMJ) was determined radiologically and its effects on the maxillary expansion pattern were investigated by finite element analysis.

Methods: The 3-dimensional morphology of the PMJ was measured separately for each dimension by examining 240 cone beam computed tomography of maxilla. Seven maxilla models with different three-dimensional pterygomaxillary characteristics were modeled, and the effect of the structural characteristic of the PMJ on the maxillary expansion pattern, and the stresses in the resistance regions were evaluated by simulating the surgically assisted maxillary expansion.