Metal Mouth Message Board

Can anyone recommend an excellent Orthognathic surgeon in the US. Has anyone heard of Dr. William Arnett in Santa Barbara?

Meryaten,

Thanks for the info. Yes, US is a big place, but since I have a complicated case and I want the most skilled surgeon I'm willing to travel if necessary. I live on the East Coast and would prefer someone here, but so far I don't know of anyone. Do you know if your doctor has a website or anything with his before and after photos?

Bubbles

May I ask what type of complicated case? I mean is it occusal issues, sleep apnea, jaw alignment?

Might help to give you referrals that are more in line with the type of work you need to have done.

Brandy

It's for jaw alignment, but I have had a very long standing case of pain. I'm now at the place where I can have orthognatic surgery.

You might want to look into California. Dr. Kasey Li, is a world reknown orthognathic surgeon. He specilizes in maxillo-mandibular advancement for sleep apnea patients but does regular advancements as well. He is considered the best in his field! He does roughly 300 surgeries a month. They have a few other doctors that are considered very good also.

I know its far away, but you said anywhere....and he is considered the best in his area of expertise. Here is a link for info about him.

http://www.drkaseyli.com/contact.shtml

Brandy

I don't have any personal experience with these doctors, but as I am outside of the USA two have been recomended to me in case I decide to have my surgery stateside. One was Dr. Arnett in Santa Barbara, and the other is Dr Larry Wolford in Dallas. I have also heard of Dr. Li, but only through online blogs. My OMS here (whom I am not 100% decided on) told me that there are tons of great OMSs in Dallas, but none he likes in Houston.

Sorry Meryten,
I meant him and his team (which I think is 2 other doctors) do roughly 300 surgeries a month. He is very fast though, my friend had upper, and lower done by him and was finished in less then 3 hours. My surgery took 6 hours, he does the same thing in most cases in about 1/2 the time.

He is quite spendy from what I hear though, like way above what insurance companies consider reasonable and customary. Most of the people I know who have seen him though have been very happy with their results, but have ended up paying close to like $30,000 out of pocket.

Brandy

Yeah, it is crazy isn't it? Same with me, I was so happy to find such a great surgeon who was in my network. I was actually rather surprised as my ortho told me they were working on another women who was having MMA done for her sleep apnea. She was going through the military though, and they were making her go to Seattle for her surgical work. My ortho was surprised that I had been able to have it done here. Tricare is my secondary insurance though, so my primary picked up the full amount, and my out of pocket expenses $4500.00 were reimbursed by Tricare so I ended up paying nothing. It was awesome! My hospital alone though was like almost $30,000 for one night! Is that insane or what? and I was only in a regular private room, can you imagine what it would be in like intensive care?

I looked into seeing Dr. Kasey Li myself but he was out of network for me and would've costed me a mint. I decided to stay close to home, but did my research on the best local surgeons. I'm so glad that I made the choice to stay here as I just love my OS! He is a bit slower then some of the ones who do it daily, but man, he has done such a great job on me that I certainly can't complain! I feel like I could be his poster child for middle aged patients! LOL...

Perhaps if she has a special case though, she might have an argument for a more specilized surgeon and insurance might agree to cover it.

Brandy

I second the recommendation of Dr. Dale Bloomquist. I understand
people come from "around the globe" to seek his services and in
addition to his private practice he is an Associate Professor of
the Univ. of Washington medical school - teaching Orthognasthic
surgery. In fact a man had traveled from Pakistan to have his surgery done by Dr. B when I was there. I had every confidence in his ability and talked with several people, including a surgical nurse who worked with him, who have had jaw surgeries done by him. Without exception, they
were pleased with him, the procedure and the results. Even
though I am a whiner, I am pleased with the outcome of my surgery
also. I also agree with Meryaten, I'm sure he does the whole range of difficulty in these surgeries.

In cases where the surgery is not covered by medical insurance, he often offers a reduced rate - which the hospital (Swedish) in conjunction with him also offers.

I'm not familiar with the terms 3dMD scanning vs. facebow -
Meryaten could you tell those of us that don't know, what these
procedures mean? I am aware that Dr. B actually plans the
procedure on moldings but I'm not very "technical" to say the
least

Thanks for your replies. Do you have any advice as to how to pick the best surgeon? I have heard that Dr. William Arnett is the best in the country, but I haven't talked to anyone that has actually had surgery by him or knows anyone that has had surgery by him.

kelsie went to Dr. Arnett. I dont remember if she posted here, but her blog site is:
http://orthognathicsx.blogspot.com/

Delag,

Thanks for letting me know that Kelsie went to Dr. Arnett. I would like to contact her with some questions. Do you know how I can reach her? Her blog seems to have a yahoo contact, but when I click on it, I get a this page is not available message. Any help would be appreciated!

Thank you!