Evaluation of nasal airway resistance in a cohort of children with primary snoring and maxillary deficiency

Introduction: The aim of this study is to test whether rapid palatal expansion is effective to improve nasal airway patency in a sample of pediatric patients with primary snoring. Materials and methods: A group of 21 subjects, 11 girls (52%) and 10 boys (48%), with a mean age of 7.1 years (SD = 1.3; range 4-9 years) were treated with a rapid maxillary expansion (RME) device. Nasal airway resistance was assessed via rhinomanometric exam before (pre) and 6 months after (post) the rapid palatal expansion treatment. Results: Data analysis showed a statistically significant increase in the mean scores of the results of the rhinomanometric exam between the "pre" and "post" measurements with a significant reduction in total inspiratory and expiratory air resistance values after rapid palatal expansion. Conclusions: Our results show that RME treatment is associated with an improvement in nasal airway resistance due to a substantial reduction in nasal resistance associated with the orthopedic action of the orthodontic device.