Effect of Rapid Maxillary Expansion on Voice

Relationship between voice function and skeletal effects of rapid maxillary expansion

“…Sari et al 21 suggested that vowels were affected by the size of the anterior oral cavity in patients who underwent surgically assisted RME. In a study on a pediatric population by Macari et al, 35 it was found that RME significantly decreased F1a and F2a parameters, leading to the conclusion that RME has an influence on the voice. In a study on children with Down syndrome, a decrease was observed in F0 frequency for the vowels a, i, e, and u after expansion with RME.…”

Maxillary arch dimensions associated with acoustic parameters in prepubertal children

“…13 The association between formant frequencies and their dispersion with the length and projection of the upper and lower jaws was found 14 to be significant between F3, F4, and the length of the mandible and maxilla for the vowels [a, i, o, u]. The impact of rapid maxillary expansion on voice has also been reported, 14 and results indicated that treatment can lower the first and second formants for the vowel [a] for most subjects. While the maxillary and mandibular arches provided bony support for the lips in the production of the sound of the bilabial phonemes, 15 orthodontic treatment with labial appliances was found to affect speech production.…”

The effects of rapid maxillary expansion on voice function

“…18,22 In the present study, after appliance removal, the RME group showed a decrease in both F 1 and F 2 frequencies and an increase in F 3 frequency, but these results were not statistically significant. Macari et al 23 found a significant lowering of the first and second formants for the vowel /a/, but their study had a small sample size. In addition, they did not have a control group, explaining why our results may have been different.…”