[Advance and review: miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion]

Rapid palatal expansion (RPE) is commonly used to correct transverse maxillary deficiencies and recognized as a reliable orthopedic procedure in children and adolescents. For adults, however, conventional RPE has been considered rarely successful and can produce undesirable dental effects. Along with the development of digital techniques and mini-implant anchorage, a novel method called miniscrew-assisted RPE (MARPE) has become available for the treatment of maxillary transverse deficiency in older patients recently. In this article, the biomechanical principles and indications of MARPE, the advances in device design, the clinical effects, the matters needing attention and limitations of this method, and the stability after expansion are discussed.