| industry report rapid maxillary expansion 44 ortho 1 2016 clinicalneeds.Today,LeoneoffersawiderangeofRME dedicatedscrews,allofthemdesignedandmanufac- turedinourhightechproductionfacilities,fullymade by surgical grade stainless steel, with laser welded arms while each of them bears a laser marked identi- fyinglotnumberthatallowsforcompletetraceability. Knowing that a RME appliance ‘produces the greatest dental and skeletal transverse changes by widening of the upper jaw, by separating the mid- palatal suture with large forces over a short time period, which subsequently allows the creation of more space for the permanent teeth’ (from Dental- pedia, McGil University, Faculty of Dentistry), we have always been positively concerned about the functionalityofeachscrew,thuswehavepaidmax- imum attention in all steps from design to the final quality test. Wehaveconductedextensivetestsinordertoknow the mechanic limit of each RME models: our findings showthatthe‘weaker’componentisalwaystheacti- vationkey(atover12kgofforce)thatactsasa‘safety instrument’. In other words, it is highly unlikely that the RME will not produce a suture opening in youth patients, neither will the expansion mechanism be damaged by the counter force produced by the max- illa (Fig. 6). Each part of the RME expansor is produced with tight tolerances and high polished surfaces to obtain controlled and precision expansion, once they are assembled together (Figs. 7 & 8). Leone RME expansor’s unique feature is the con- nection of the arm to the screw body: the arm fits perfectly in a blind hole created inside of the hous- ing, then it is held in position by means of external high power laser welding (Figs. 9–10). This exclusive Fig.8 Fig.9 Fig.10 Fig.11 Fig.12 Fig.13 Fig.16 Fig.17 Fig.18 Fig.14 Fig.15 12016