Summary The overall goal of this review was to observe how the material properties of the unfused midpalatal suture have been consid- ered by researchers in finite element analyses of maxillary expansion. Literature from Scopus, PubMed, and Biosis were all considered. Upon completion of the review, it was found that researchers assumed the suture to be vacant, have the same elastic properties as bone, or have elastic properties indicative of soft tissues. By performing a simplified analysis of the max- illa complex during expansion, it is shown that the suture may have a significant influence on treatment outcome. As a result, despite valuable contributions from previous studies, it would be ideal to incorporate a more representative model of the midpa- latal suture into finite element simulations. Ó 2013 CEO. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved R  esum  e L’objectif global de cette revue  etait d’observer comment les propri  et  es mat  erielles de la suture palatine m  ediane non fusionn  ees ont  et  e abord  ees par les chercheurs utilisant l’analyse des  el  ements finis (AEF) pour  etudier l’expansion maxillaire. La litt  erature disponible sur Scopus, PubMed et Biosis a  et  e pass  ee en revue. A ` la fin de cette revue, il a  et  e trouv  e que les chercheurs supposaient la suture ^ etre vide, poss  edant les m ^ emes propri  et  es  elastiques que l’os, ou ayant des propri  et  es  elastiques semblables aux tissus mous. Par une analyse simplifi  ee du complexe maxillaire pendant l’expansion, il est d  emontr  e que la suture peut exercer une influence significative sur le r  esultat du traitement. En con- s  equence, malgr  e les contributions utiles faites par les  etudes ant  erieures, il serait opportun d’incorporer un mod  ele plus repr  esentatif de la suture m  ediopalatine dans les simulations par  el  ements finis. Ó 2013 CEO. E ´ dite´par Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits re´serve´s A review of the literature Revue de la litt  erature Ó 2013 CEO Published by / E ´ dite ´ par Elsevier Masson SAS All rights reserved / Tous droits re ´serve ´s Role of the midpalatal suture in FEA simulations of maxillary expansion treatment for adolescents: A review Le r ^ ole de la suture m  ediopalatine dans les simulations AEF du traitement par expansion maxillaire chez les adolescents : une revue de la litterature Dan L. ROMANYK a , Caroline R. COLLINS a , Manuel O. LAGRAVERE b , Roger W. TOOGOOD a , Paul W. MAJOR b , Jason P. CAREY a,* a Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, 5-8T Mechanical Engineering Building, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2G8 b Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada Available online: 26 March 2013 / Disponible en ligne : 26 mars 2013 * Correspondence and reprints / Correspondance et tir es a ` part. e-mail address / Adresse e-mail : jpcarey@ualberta.ca (Jason P. Carey) International Orthodontics 2013 ; 11 : 119-138 119 doi:10.1016/j.ortho.2013.02.001