Tomographic dimensions for the installation of rapid maxillary expansion mini-implants in different age groups

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the research was to com-pare the dimensions of the upper jaw between different age groups for the installation of mini-implants for rapid maxillary expansion. Materials and Methods: The study was descriptive, retroprospective and observational. Cone beam computed tomography was used for the evaluation of 30 patients between 7 and 56 years of age, divided into three groups, ten up to 14 years, ten from 15 to 30 years, and ten from 31 years and older. The premolar and molar regions were selected for the measurement of the maxilla in the coronal plane, both bone and soft tissue. To compare the measurements, the Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used. Results: No statistically significant differences were found between the groups. The thicknesses of the bone tissue decreased from the first premolar to the second molar from 9.48 +/-3.71 mm to 5.40 +/-2.80 mm respectively, while the soft tissue thicknesses were more homogeneous with measurements of 0.56 +/-0.74 mm to 2.76 +/- 2.42 mm. Conclusions: The dimensions of the bone and soft tis-sue of the upper jaw, evaluated vertically for the installa-tion of mini-implants, were similar in all the age groups studied, with larger dimensions in men than in women at the premolar level. The dimensions of the maxilla for the palatal miniimplants were close to 9 mm in bone tissue and 3 mm of soft tissue at the level of premolars and 5 mm in hard tissue with 1 mm of soft tissue at the level of molars. Keywords: Palatal expansion technique; Dental im-plants; Mini implants; Maxilla; Cone-beam computed to-mography; Age groups