AUTOMATIC SAGITTAL-TRANSVERSAL MAXILLARY EXPANSION: ORTHOGNATHODONTIC EVOLUTION

G. Zanotti^1,2*, P. Montagna^2,3 and F. Gelpi^2,3

¹Internal Clinic Specialist at U.L.S.S. 9 of Verona, Verona, Italy;
²Private Practice, Verona, Italy;
³Head and Neck Department, Department of Surgery, Dentistry, Pediatrics and Gynecology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

*Correspondence to:
Guglielmo Zanotti, DDS, MSC
Dentist/Doctor in Dental Surgery,
Specialist in Orthognathodontics,
Internal Clinic Specialist at U.L.S.S. 9 of Verona,
Via Giuseppe Giusti 1,
37030 Lavagno, (VE), Italy
e-mail: guglielmo.zanotti@aulss9.veneto.it

Received: 18 April 2024 Accepted: 19 May 2024

ISSN 2975-044X (online) ISSN 2038-4106 (print) Copyright © by BIOLIFE 2024 This publication and/or article is for individual use only and may not be further reproduced without written permission from the copyright holder. Unauthorized reproduction may result in financial and other penalties. Disclosure: All authors report no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

ABSTRACT

                The outcome of daily clinical practice in interceptive orthognathodontics is influenced by the severity of the pathology. It also heavily depends on the paediatric patient’s ability to cooperate. The need to choose between dentoalveolar and skeletal expansion using fixed appliances arises from the necessity to achieve a predictable result in the shortest time possible and grant optimal patient growth, even in the absence of cooperation. However, the transposition of the typical three-way steel screw from removable appliances to fixed ones complicates expansion treatments, especially for the patient’s parents, forcing the dental professional to perform frequent checks relative to expansion’s activations. The introduction of an automatic one-way nickel-titanium expansion screw in the shape of a crossbow, to be intended as an evolution of the one-way steel screw present in traditional rapid expanders, has paved the way for a new interceptive orthognathodontics paradigm. Daily clinical practice makes skeletal transversal maxillary expansion substantially independent of patient cooperation. In this paper, a new device is presented, with the aim to further refine the concept of independence present in contemporary one-way crossbow-shaped expansion screw appliances, simply introducing three undersized crossbows made from nickel-titanium. This design can exert efficient expansion simultaneously in three directions, making maxillary expansion automatic both sagittally and transversally, minimizing the need for patient cooperation, and reducing parents’ concerns.

KEYWORDS: automatic, nickel-titanium, class III, expansion, simplicity, efficiency