Expansion of the mandibular arch in children during the mixed dentition period--a clinical study.

A review of the dental literature revealed relatively few studies on the expansion of the mandibular dental arch. The present study attempted expansion of the mandibular arch using a Bihelix appliance. The subjects were 16 children, exhibiting crowding, age ranges from 7 to 11 years. The mandible was expanded 2.0 mm every 3 months. Significant expansion, not only of the individual tooth inter-arch dimensions but also of the overall arch length, was obtained during the period of incisor tooth replacement. The mode of expansion was classified as follows: Type I, those, which showed no effect on the apical base; Type II, those which showed no consistency of the measurement lines. In this study, 6 of 16 cases were classified as type I and 10 cases as type II. Expansion was continued over a period of 1.5 to 3 years. We concluded that considerable lateral expansion of the mandibular arch is possible using the Bihelix appliance. It is suggested that this might contribute greatly to non-extraction orthodontic treatment. Further studies are recommended.