Skeletal, Dentoalveolar, Dental, and Soft-Tissue Effects Following MARPE Treatment: A Review.

PURPOSE: Miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion (MARPE) is often indicated to resolve transverse problems, and its potential effects at the dental, dentoalveolar, skeletal, and soft-tissue levels must be taken into account. This article evaluates these effects on adult and young adult patients using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: For validation of the studies in this review, the PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane platforms were evaluated from 1965 to 2023. The selection criteria were studies that examined the effects produced after MARPE. For the validation and level of evidence, the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (OCEBM) classification was used, while the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) scale was applied for the assessment of risk of bias. RESULTS: After reviewing 426 articles, the authors compared a total of 11 articles, in which the dental, dentoalveolar, skeletal, and soft-tissue effects following MARPE treatment were evaluated. The main limitation was the lack of uniformity in the use of the different devices for MARPE. CONCLUSIONS: MARPE in young adult patients is confirmed as an effective treatment for transverse problems, with increases in maxillary width observed in all studied areas; the success of the procedure, however, appears to be age-dependent with success rates decreasing after age 30.