Influence of miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion (MARPE) on the interdental papilla height of maxillary central incisors

Objectives To evaluate the influence of miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion (MARPE) on the interdental papilla height of maxillary central incisors. Materials and methods Patients who completed MARPE treatment at the Radboud University Medical Center between 2018 and 2021 were included in this retrospective study. The papilla height between the maxillary central incisors was evaluated on frontal intraoral photographs taken before expansion (T0) and 1.5 years after MARPE treatment (T1) using the Jemt classification. The difference in Jemt score at T0 and T1 was the primary outcome variable. In addition, gender, age, Angle classification, MARPE duration, midpalatal suture maturation stage, maximal central diastema (MCD) immediately after expansion, crown width to length ratio (W/L), pretreatment overlap of maxillary central incisors, and the distance between the approximal contact point of the central incisors and the bone crest (CP-B) were also record. Results Twenty-two patients were included (2 men, 20 women, mean age 27.3 ± 8.8 years) and 4 patients (18%) showed a significant reduction in the Jemt score following MARPE ( p = 0.04), indicating papilla recession. Interdental papilla recession was significantly associated with the increase of CP-B ( p = 0.02), smaller W/L ( p < 0.01), overlapping of maxillary central incisors ( p < 0.01), and smaller MCD immediately after expansion ( p = 0.02). Conclusions One and a half years after MARPE, 18% of patients exhibited mild recession of papilla height of the maxillary central incisors. Overlapping and smaller W/L of maxillary central incisors were prognostic factors for interdental papilla recession. Clinical relevance Clinicians have to be aware of and inform the patients about the occurrence of papilla recession following MARPE.