Analysis of change in arch form with premolar expansion

The arch forms of 38 cases (53 nonextraction and 23 extraction arches) in which expansion, while maintaining arch form, was the objective of the practitioner, were analyzed before treatment, after treatment, and an average of 6 to 8 years after retention. The cubic spline was used to fit a curve representing arch form. By superimposing the spline curves, changes in arch form were analyzed with the variables rebound change (RC), rebound index (RI), rebound number (RN), and stability number (SN). Traditional linear intraarch dimensions were also analyzed. Analysis of variance was used to determine differences between the maxillary and mandibular arches and between the extraction and nonextraction cases. Pearson correlation coefficients between spline variables and arch width variables were also computed. There was significantly more expansion in the maxillary arch than the mandibular arch during treatment, irrespective of extraction or nonextraction strategies. In the nonextraction cases, a greater amount of net expansion was achieved for all dimensions for the maxillary arch as compared with the mandibular arch. Overall, a relatively high stability in arch form was found. The findings suggest that stability may not be related to the amount of change produced during treatment. Significant expansion can be gained throughout the premolar regions and may be expected to be stable. The order of greatest net arch width gained was for the second premolars followed by first premolars, molars, and then the canines. The intercanine widths for both arches decreased toward pretreatment values, but were more stable in the maxillary arch in nonextraction cases. The cubic spline permits measurement of change in arch form both during treatment and retention periods.