Resumen
The analysis aimed at studying stresses reduced according to Huber?s hypothesis and displacement patterns at selected sites of the facial skeleton using a tooth-borne appliance in surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion. Five different variants of osteotomy of the midface and a variant without surgical intervention were compared to determine the best model for making an incision in the maxilla. The finite element analysis (FEA) was used for the study. Five osteotomy variants and a variant without osteotomy were modelled using a tooth-borne appliance on a facial skeleton model of a 23-year-old woman with skeletal malocclusion. The finite element mesh was constructed based on the geometry imported into the ANSYS 15.0 (Swanson Analysis System of USA) software, in which calculations were performed using the finite element analysis. Stress distributions and displacement patterns along the X, Y and Z axes are presented for each osteotomy variant with the expansion of the tooth-borne appliance at a level of 0.5 mm. As a result of the analysis it was found that osteotomy of the palatal suture in conjunction with Le Fort I osteotomy has the biggest impact on the course of maxillary expansion. If no osteotomy is performed, an increase in stresses reduced according to Huber occurs in the entire facial skeleton with a simultaneous absence of maxillary expansion.