Microimplant-Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion (MARPE) - A Comprehensive Review

Maxillary transverse deficiency routinely requires expansion of the palate. In growing patients, well-documented expansion modalities are slow maxillary expansion (SME) and rapid palatal expansion (RME). However, in mature patients due to the complexity of interdigitation of midpalatal suture and decreased elasticity of bone, palatal expansion is challenging. Patients are frequently suggested to go for a more invasive procedure, like the Surgically Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion(SARPE) expansion. More recently, with the emergence of implants, researchers havevalidated that it is possible to expand the maxilla in adult patients without carrying out osteotomies.This comprehensive review provides fundamental information, different designs,recent updates, surgical guides, clinical significance and limitations ofMicroimplant-Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion(MARPE), which has become a generic term for the maxillary expansion appliance which transmits expansion forces to basal bones by a miniscrew anchorage system.MARPE represents a valid alternative to surgery in treating mature patients with a transverse maxillary deficiency with greater stability, safety, and fewer side effects.