Transpalatal distraction as a method of maxillary expansion.

Conventional devices used for surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion are tooth-borne. Dental fixation entails a number of possible drawbacks such as loss of anchorage, skeletal relapse during and after the expansion period, cortical fenestration and buccal root resorption. A bone-borne titanium device with interchangeable expansion modules, used with a callous distraction policy, is presented.