Effects of rapid maxillary expansion on hearing: a systematic review

The search was conducted in the bibliographic collection of the electronic databases MEDLINE, SciELO and Bibliografia Brasileira de Odontologia (BBO) in January 2016. The keywords used for the research were: “hearing loss”, “hearing”, “rapid maxillary expansion” and “palatal expansion technique”.

Selection criteria

Articles in Portuguese, English and Spanish were selected, published up to January 2016, without initial date limitation. Studies related to the rapid maxillary expansion on hearing topic were included in this systematic review.

Results

The research strategy resulted in the selection of eight articles, which were classified as clinical trials. The studies explains that the rapid maxillary expansion performed on children and/or teenagers improves hearing thresholds and acoustic impedance measurements.

Conclusion

The rapid maxillary expansion caused hearing improvement, despite the methodological limitations and diversity of the analyzed studies.

Maxilla; Hearing loss; Hearing; Palatal expansion technique; Review

Author (year)	Country of origin	Goal	Population	Gender	Age	Audiological procedures
Micheletti et al. (2012)⁽²⁴⁾	Brazil	Evaluating RME effects on the function of the medium ear before, after, 3 months and 1 year after expansion	Patients with otologic surgery, without previous dental treatment and who did not present otitis media during the study	F=9 M=9	Average 8 years and 1 month old	Threshold tonal audiometry (by air, by bones) and tympanometry
Villano et al. (2006)⁽²⁰⁾	Italy	Evaluate RME effects on conductive hearing loss and on maxillary constriction	Patients with maxillary constriction, recurring otitis media and conductive hearing loss	F=15 M=10	Average 7 years old	Threshold tonal audiometry (by air) and tympanometry
Kilic et al. (2008)⁽¹⁶⁾	Turkey	Investigate RME long term effects on conductive hearing loss	Patients with severe maxillary constriction, bilateral crossbite, deep palate and conductive hearing loss.	F=12 M=3	Average 13 years 4 months old	Threshold tonal audiometry (by air and bone) and tympanometry
Ceylan et al. (1996)⁽²¹⁾	Turkey	Determine whether RME has effects on conductive hearing loss	Patients with maxillary transverse deficiency, deep palate and conductive hearing loss.	F=11 M=3	Average 12 years 11 months old	Threshold tonal audiometry (by air) and tympanometry
Stéfano et al. (2009)⁽²⁵⁾	Italy	Evaluate RME effects on children with chronic otitis media as a consequence of alterations in the skeletal development and adenoid hypertrophy.	Patients with chronic otitis media associated to adenoid hypertrophy and alterations in the skeletal development.	F=12 M=15	Average 7 years old	Threshold tonal audiometry (by air and bone) and tympanometry
Moura et al. (2008)⁽¹⁹⁾	Canada	RME effects on the evolution of otolaryngological symptoms in Down-syndrome children.	Patients diagnosed with chromosome 21 trisomy, persistent nasal obstruction and/or recurrent infections at the respiratory tract, with crossbite and/or maxillary constriction. Patients were divided into two groups: the control group, which did not perform the treatment and the group performing rapid maxillary expansion.	F=* M=*	Between 4 and 12 years old	Threshold tonal audiometry (by air) and tympanometry
Taspinar et al. (2003)⁽²²⁾	Turkey	Evaluate RME effects on conductive hearing loss in a two-year period	Patients with severe maxillary constriction, deep palate and conductive hearing loss.	F=21 M=14	Average 14 years 6 months old	Threshold tonal audiometry (by air and bone)
Cozza et al. (2007)⁽¹⁰⁾	Italy	Investigate RME effects on the resistance of the nasal airway and on the conductive hearing loss of mouth breathing children, with atypical swallowing and otitis media	Mouth breathing patients, with atypical swallowing and conductive hearing loss resulting from otitis media	F=8 M=16	Average 7 years old	Threshold tonal audiometry

	External validity (Max = 1)	Internal validity (Max = 8)	Interpretable results (Max = 2)	Total score (Max = 11)
Micheletti et al. (2012)⁽²⁴⁾	1	2	2	5
Stéfano et al. (2009)⁽²⁵⁾	1	2	2	5
Kilic et al. (2008)⁽¹⁶⁾	1	2	1	4
Moura et al. (2008)⁽²⁰⁾	1	4	2	7
Cozza et al. (2007)⁽¹⁰⁾	1	2	1	4
Villano et al. (2006)⁽²⁰⁾	1	2	1	4
Taspinar et al. (2003)⁽²²⁾	1	2	1	4
Ceylan et al. (1996)⁽²¹⁾	1	2	1	4

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[1] Corresponding author: Pricila Sleifer. E-mail: pricilasleifer@uol.com.br