Effect of activation protocol on miniscrew-assisted palatal expansion: A systematic review of current evidence

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The aim of this systematic review was to review the effect of different activation protocols of miniscrew-assisted palatal expanders used in the treatment of maxillary skeletal transverse deficiency. Material and methods: A search was conducted in MEDLINE via PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library till May 2020. The gray literature was also explored via google scholar and Open Gray. Selection criteria included randomized and prospective clinical trials comparing the outcomes of different activation protocols of miniscrew-assisted palatal expansion. Eligibility criteria were applied, and the authors planned to extract relevant data, and assess the risk of bias using the RoB 2 tool for randomized controlled trials and ROBINS-I tool for non-randomized studies, followed by the assessment of the quality of evidence. Results: As no studies met the inclusion criteria for this review, we discussed the results of prospective clinical trials studying the clinical outcomes of using miniscrew-assisted palatal expansion. Conclusion: To date, there are no high-quality clinical trials comparing the clinical outcomes of different activation protocols of miniscrew-assisted palatal expansion. There is no clear agreement in the literature on the most efficient activation protocol used with the miniscrew-assisted palatal expanders.