Comparison of treatment outcomes with banded and bonded RPE appliances

The purpose of this retrospective study was to compare the treatment outcomes with a banded (n = 38) versus a bonded (n = 55) rapid palatal expansion appliance followed by edgewise orthodontics. Both lateral cephalometric radiographs and orthodontic study casts were evaluated at pretreatment and posttreatment time periods. Overall, the banded rapid palatal expansion group had more vertical change than the bonded group. However, most of these changes were less than 1 degrees or 1 mm and may be considered clinically insignificant. This study could not establish superiority of one type of rapid palatal expansion technique over another.