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specialty

Palatal Expanders.

Expanders widen the maxilla to correct transverse deficiency and posterior crossbite. We make the whole category, from tooth-borne Hyrax and Haas designs to bone-borne Custom MARPE and MSE.

Rapid, slow and removable expanders.

The expansion range covers rapid palatal expanders, slow wire expanders, removable plates and lower arch expanders. Screw expanders such as the Upper RPE, Upper Mini, Haas, DeLuke Contoured Expander and Crowned Expander are turned at home, while the Upper Quad Helix and W-Arch are activated chairside and the E-Arch runs on an open coil spring. Lower expanders and the removable Schwarz round out the range.

  • Expansion screws in every size from 7 to 13 mm
  • Banded, crowned, bonded or OnBRACE® anchorage
  • Every fixed expander available 3D printed
Upper RPE

What do expansion appliances solve?

Expansion appliances create width where the arch is too narrow for the teeth. On the upper they treat transverse maxillary deficiency, posterior crossbite and tapered arches, and on the lower they relieve crowding through arch development and uprighting, since there’s no suture to open.

  • Transverse maxillary deficiency in a growing patient
  • Unilateral or bilateral posterior crossbite
  • Tapered arch with adequate molar width
  • Lower crowding relieved by arch development

Which expander fits the case?

Patient age and suture maturity decide most expansion cases. Anchorage and coverage decide the rest.

Anchorage
Banded, first molars
Patient age
Primary and mixed dentition
Correction
Transverse expansion
Compliance
Screw turns at home
Anchorage
Banded, tooth-borne
Patient age
Growing patients
Correction
Skeletal transverse
Compliance
Screw turns at home
Anchorage
Banded, first molars
Patient age
Mixed or permanent dentition
Correction
Lower arch development
Compliance
Screw turns as prescribed
Anchorage
Removable, clasp-retained
Patient age
Growing patients
Correction
Transverse development
Compliance
Required, removable
Anchorage
Molar bands, premolar rests or bands
Patient age
Late mixed or permanent dentition
Correction
Expansion, then molar distalization
Compliance
Low, screw turns only
Anchorage
Premolar rests or bands
Patient age
Late mixed or permanent dentition
Correction
Expansion, then molar distalization
Compliance
Low, screw turns only
Anchorage
Banded, upper first molars
Patient age
Mixed dentition
Correction
Dentoalveolar transverse
Compliance
None, activated chairside
Anchorage
Banded, upper arch
Patient age
Growing patients
Correction
Anterior arch development
Compliance
None, spring-activated
Anchorage
Banded, first molars
Patient age
Mixed dentition
Correction
Dentoalveolar transverse
Compliance
None, activated chairside
Anchorage
Banded, tooth and tissue-borne
Patient age
Growing patients
Correction
Skeletal transverse
Compliance
Screw turns at home
Anchorage
Bonded, acrylic occlusal coverage
Patient age
Mixed or permanent dentition
Correction
Transverse expansion
Compliance
Screw turns at home
Anchorage
Fixed, lower posterior teeth
Patient age
Mixed or permanent dentition
Correction
Lower arch development
Compliance
Screw turns as prescribed
Anchorage
Crowns, first or primary molars
Patient age
Mixed dentition
Correction
Transverse expansion
Compliance
Screw turns at home
Anchorage
Banded, first molars
Patient age
Growing patients
Correction
Anterior transverse
Compliance
Screw turns at home
Haas, top view Distal Jet, top view MARPE 4 eyelet, front view

Send us your
next case.

Appliances that fit the first time and arrive on time.

FAQ

Questions about expansion appliances.

Prescribe the Crowned Expander when clinical crowns are too short to retain a band, or before the first molars erupt, since the crowns can go on the second primary molars. Prescribe the DeLuke Contoured Expander to bond instead of band, with no separators or band fitting.

There are 48 activations on the standard RPE, each a quarter millimeter. Note the expansion you want in millimeters on the Rx.

Yes. We invented the RES (Ratcheting Expansion Screw), which ratchets forward and locks so the tool parents use only tightens. Click screws are also available on many of our screw expanders.

Both are rapid palatal expanders on first molar bands. The Haas adds palatal acrylic on each side of the vault so the tissue shares the load with the teeth, while the Upper RPE keeps acrylic off the palate.

Yes. The Lower Fixed uses a 12 mm reduced-body screw on first molar bands, and the JI Williams pairs an 8 mm screw with a .016 NiTi wire that keeps the lower anteriors rounded. For a removable option, every lower Schwarz gets occlusal coverage.

Look at skeletal expansion instead. Custom MARPE, the MSE Expander and the Dentaurum Expander anchor on palatal miniscrews, and they’re on our MARPE and Surgical Wires page.