The purpose of this study was to provide quantitative data describing the effect of rapid palatal expansion (RPE) on nasal airway resistance (NAR). RPE is an orthopedic procedure which is commonly used to widen the maxilla in skeletal Class III patients. 18 subjects (9 males and 9 females, mean age: 10 years 7 months) were selected from the Orthodontics in Yongdong Severance Hospital. Recordings of NAR were taken by active anterior method prior to expansion, immediately after desired maximum expansion, and after approximately 3 months and 6 months, and 1 year. All data was recorded and statistically processed with the SPSS program of IBM PC system. The results are as followings: 1. The average initial NAR of the subjects was 3.84cm H_²O/LPS (SD ± 1.34). It was greater than the average NAR of the normal subjects. 2. Among 18 subjects, 9 subjects showed reduction of NAR and 9 subjects showed no specific change of NAR after expansion. 3. An average reduction in NAR after immediately expansion was statistically significant at the 0.05 level. 4. The reduction appeared stable throughout the post treatment observation period of 1 year after expansion. From these results, it was suggested that RPE is a useful method to reduce NAR.