May 26, 2025 | Mars Orthodontics
MARPE (Miniscrew-Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion) is a non-surgical way to widen the upper jaw in adults and late adolescents. At Mars Orthodontics, we deliver MARPE through our own protocol, which we call MARS-PE. If you have seen it written as MARS-PE or MARSPE, both refer to the same approach: our personalised, specialist- led way of planning and delivering MARPE treatment.
This article walks through what to do before your appointment, what happens on the day, how treatment planning works, and how the process is structured for patients travelling from interstate or overseas.
A MARS-PE consultation is a complete diagnostic workup, and a bit of preparation beforehand makes a real difference. The records we take on the day inform every decision in your treatment plan, so the cleaner your starting point, the more precisely we can plan.
Before your MARS-PE consultation, please see your general dentist. If it has been more than six months since your last visit, book an appointment with them first.
Specifically, please ensure you have had:
The MARS-PE expander is 3D printed to fit your teeth exactly as they are when we take your records (the CBCT scan, the iTero Lumina digital scan, and the clinical photographs). Even a minor change to your tooth anatomy after that point, such as a new filling, will affect how the appliance fits. If your teeth change, the appliance will not fit correctly and will need to be redesigned and reprinted. An unexpected problem such as a sudden toothache can cause the same issue. This means extra appointments, additional cost, and a delay to starting your treatment. This is why it is essential to see your dentist and complete all dental work before your MARS-PE consultation.
Depending on your situation, a few other specialists may need to be part of your preparation.
Where possible, send any relevant past reports, scans, and records to us in advance of your appointment. This allows the specialist to review them beforehand, so your consultation time is spent on you rather than on reading paperwork.
Your MARS-PE consultation is a dedicated appointment with Dr Carmen and Dr Ersan at the practice in South Brisbane. It typically takes 60 minutes.
The appointment covers four things: clinical examination, records, an overview of your case, and a discussion of what your treatment direction looks like.
The clinical examination focuses on the structures: the upper jaw, the lower jaw, how they relate to each other, facial asymmetries, the palate, the bite, the airway, the tongue posture, and the facial proportions in the frontal and profile views. Expansion if required is usually the first step in any orthodontic treatment but in some instances you may need to see a OMFS if your treatment plan involves orthognathic (jaw) surgery.
We take three core sets of records in one appointment:
Taking all three in the same appointment is one of the reasons the MARS-PE assessment is a complete workup rather than just a conversation.
After the records are taken, we sit down with you and walk through what we see. The CBCT images, the iTero scan, the facial analysis, all reviewed together, in front of you, on the screen.
This is where you get a clear overview of your case in a single appointment: whether non-surgical expansion is realistic, the likely treatment direction, an honest sense of timeline, and where your case sits in terms of complexity.
The final part of the consultation is the conversation. What are your goals. What is driving your interest in expansion. What have you been told previously. What concerns do you have. Fees, timing, how treatment fits with work, family, and travel.
You leave with a clear picture of where you stand and what the next step looks like. You are not asked to commit to treatment at this appointment.
The detailed treatment planning happens after the consultation, not during it. This is one of the things that separates a specialist-led workup from a quick assessment.
Once you have decided to proceed, your CBCT and iTero datasets are superimposed in treatment planning software. The expansion is mapped against your actual bone. The appliance design is worked through, layer by layer, against your individual anatomy. The activation pathway, rapid or slow, is selected based on your case. The broader bite plan, including any concurrent Invisalign or additional mechanics, is built around the expansion plan.
This planning work is extensive. This is the uniqueness of an appliance that is designed specifically to suit your treatment needs. There are no 2 identical MARPEs, each design is personalized according to any additional mechanics required for your orthodontic treatment.
The next in-person appointment after that is the fitting of your appliance and the start of treatment. There is usually an interval of around 8 weeks between choosing to proceed and the fitting of your appliance, during which the detailed planning and appliance manufacturing take place.
We welcome patients travelling from interstate and overseas for MARS-PE. The process works in two stages.
Before you make the trip, we strongly recommend booking a virtual consultation first. It is not a clinical assessment, and no diagnosis or treatment recommendation can be made remotely, but it allows us to:
The virtual consultation can save you a wasted journey if your situation suggests MARS-PE may not be appropriate, and it ensures you arrive in Brisbane prepared.
The full MARS-PE consultation happens in person, as described above, so that all records can be taken in a single appointment.
For patients proceeding with treatment, we require a minimum of 8 in-person reviews throughout treatment. This is a clinical governance standard, not a commercial one: proper monitoring is essential to safe MARS-PE care, and we do not accept interstate or overseas patients who cannot commit to attending these reviews in person. Between in-person reviews, remote monitoring is available to support your care.
Mars Orthodontics is located in the heart of South Bank, one of South Brisbane’s most welcoming precincts. We are just a two-minute walk from South Bank train station, with a direct train line from Brisbane Airport, so interstate and overseas patients can travel from the airport to the practice easily without needing a car.
For patients travelling for their first appointment, South Bank offers extensive accommodation within walking distance of the practice, from hotels to serviced apartments and short-stay options, alongside the restaurants, river walks, and cultural precinct that make the area a pleasant place to stay.
At the end of your MARS-PE consultation, you leave with:
If you wish to proceed, the planning work begins and your appliance is designed. If you wish to take time to think, your records remain on file and you can return when you are ready. Important to remember, we will bring you back for new records if you had dental work done after the initial consultation, or if the records we have on file are older than 6 months. This is a precaution to ensure the appliance is 100% accurate, as it is 3D printed.
You may also wish to read How MARPE Works: Non-Surgical Jaw Expansion for Adults, learn more about MARPE treatment at Mars Orthodontics (treatment section), or read Can Adults Get a Palate Expander?.
If you have been told you need surgery to widen your upper jaw, or you have been advised that adult palate expansion is not possible, a specialist orthodontic assessment with detailed 3D diagnostic imaging can clarify whether MARS-PE is appropriate for your case.
