Long-term dental and skeletal changes in patients submitted to surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE This meta-analysis evaluated long-term dental and skeletal changes in patients submitted to surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion. METHODS A search was performed in electronic databases. Human clinical trials with patients submitted to surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion with a follow-up of at least 1 year after expansion were selected. A methodological quality scoring process was used. A meta-analysis was performed to compare measurements of skeletal and dental structures. RESULTS Three hundred sixty-five titles and abstracts were read. Ultimately 10 studies met the inclusion criteria. The 3 articles ranked as presenting low methodological quality were excluded. Three measurements could be compared and 3 time periods were used to assess changes. CONCLUSIONS There is moderate evidence to conclude that maxillary alveolar width and intercanine and intermolar width have a long-term significant increase as a result of surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion. A significant relapse is expected in the intercanine width after expansion.