ABSTRACT

A hybrid expander is a newly designed bone-anchored expander consisting of 2 mini-screws and palatal acrylic; it does not cover any teeth. The aim of this case report is to present the treatment of a patient with transversal maxillary deficiency by hybrid expander. An 11.4-year-old female patient came to our clinic complaining about the appearance of her teeth. She had a narrow maxillary arch, unilateral dental crossbite, anterior dental crowding, and dental Class II canine and molar relationships on both sides. Two self-tapping mini-screws were placed between the first molar and second premolar on the palate under minimal local anesthesia. After 1 week, this appliance was bonded to the mini-screws with Transbond XT (3M Unitek, Monrovia, CA, USA) resin. The expansion screw was activated twice a day for 1 week and then once a day until the expansion was completed. After the expansion period, the brackets were bonded to the teeth without removing the hybrid expander. Sufficient maxillary expansion had been achieved without buccal tipping of the posterior teeth, and the midline diastema had closed spontaneously. This newly designed hybrid expander was efficient in correcting a transverse maxillary deficiency without any of the side effects found with conventional rapid maxillary expanders. The most important advantage of this appliance is that clinicians can implement expansion and bonding procedures at the same time.