Mahadevia Sonali, Daruwala Nozar, Vaghamshi Malay
Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, Ahmedabad Dental College and Hospital, Ahmedabad, India.
Indian J Dent Res. 2011 Sep-Oct;22(5):734. doi: 10.4103/0970-9290.93473.
Rapid Maxillary Expansion constitutes a routine clinical procedure in orthodontics, involving separation of mid-palatine suture which is usually done with help of the Hyrax screw. However, because of its high cost, the use has been limited, especially in institutions. So, the purpose of this study was to construct an economical device which can expand the maxillary arch in growing patients.
Six patients having constricted maxilla and posterior skeletal crossbite were randomly selected from the Department of Orthodontics. A unique, easy and simple alternative device for expanding the maxillary arch called economic Rapid Maxillary Expander (eRME) has been fabricated at about one-tenth the cost of the conventional Hyrax. Pre- and post-treatment effects were statistically tested by using paired t-test at 0.05 level of significance.
The study results showed an average expansion in canine, premolar and molar regions of 4.4 mm, 6.8 mm and 9.4 mm, respectively, having significant difference pre-and post-treatment. Thus, it shows that maxillary expansion is efficiently possible with the application of this newly constructed device named eRME. This appliance also acts as a fixed retainer to avoid relapse, hence negating the need for a separate retainer.
上颌快速扩弓是正畸治疗中的一项常规临床操作，包括分离腭中缝，通常借助Hyrax扩弓器来完成。然而，由于其成本高昂，其应用受到限制，尤其是在一些机构中。因此，本研究的目的是构建一种经济实惠的装置，能够对上颌骨正在生长的患者进行上颌扩弓。
从正畸科随机选取6例上颌狭窄和后牙骨骼性反合的患者。制作了一种独特、简便且经济的上颌扩弓替代装置，称为经济型上颌快速扩弓器（eRME），其成本约为传统Hyrax扩弓器的十分之一。采用配对t检验在0.05的显著性水平下对治疗前后的效果进行统计学检验。
研究结果显示，犬牙区、前磨牙区和磨牙区的平均扩弓量分别为4.4毫米、6.8毫米和9.4毫米，治疗前后差异具有统计学意义。因此，表明应用这种新构建的名为eRME的装置能够有效地实现上颌扩弓。该矫治器还可作为固定保持器以避免复发，从而无需额外的保持器。
