Dr. Relle in LA, Le fort i & Sarpe

[annepanne]

I had a 3 hour consultation at Dr. Relle in Beverly Hills. I am so glad. Every orthodontist and surgeon I´ve been to have told me that I need to move the upper jaw forward, but I have been concerned because that doesn´t seem to adress the actual problem -that I can´t close my mouth properly. (even though I don´t have a gummy smile) and a narrow upper jaw. He did such a detailed examination of everything.
And he said he would avoid a BSSO or what you call it because my profile is quite fine, and that he wants to keep my "youthful" look. He also wants to do a Sarpe at the same time. The upper jaw will only be moved up 3 mm. And I still wonder a bit about if it´s worth it. It is very small corrections -but at the same time, I have been thinking that there is something wrong that I wanted to adress for 8 years or so.

Is Le fort 1 & Sarpe a less serious and less recovery time than BSSO? I hope so! It seems to not be that invasive.
Have anyone here had experience with Dr. Relle? I´ve read that he is one of the best. I felt in good hands, but still wonder if someone
else has been operated by him?

[annepanne]

Or actually I don´t know if it´s Sarpe or what it is. I forgot to ask exactly what this procedure is called and he is doing it at the same time as moving the upper jaw. But he explained that it would be two cuts to widen the upper jaw.

[sarpevictim]

I think you're having a segmented Le Fort, something that Dr.Relle recommended for me when I saw him.

A segmented Le Fort is actually worse in terms of recovery (or a Le Fort itself) than a BSSO. But as many oral surgeons have told me, there is little difference between double jaw surgery and single jaw surgery, since the recovery time is the same.

The big difference comes from the segmented Le Fort, because you will most likely have to have a splint.

If moving your jaw up 3mm isn't a big deal to you, then you can also consider SARPE, which is definitely something I would consider as minor surgery.

[annepanne]

No, I had it wrong. he is not doing a Sarpe. But a Le fort I osteotomy. I don´t really understand that you can say that moving both jaws is the same as one. The doctor said it´s less recovery. anyway, it must be better to avoid surgery one lower jaw if not needed. ?

[annepanne]

He told me no device or splinth if that´s what its called.

[sarpevictim]

Oh then you're lucky. The other oral surgeon I saw would have used a splint if my upper jaw was cut into multiple pieces.

I saw several oral surgeons. Most said that a simple Le Fort and a BSSO (bottom jaw surgery) together were the same as either one of them alone. A segmented Le Fort (Le Fort, with the top jaw broken into pieces) requires much more in terms of recovery.

Either way, Dr.Relle is a very qualified oral surgeon. I think he told me he did something around 3000 oral surgeries, so you're in good hands with whatever he recommends for you.

[annepanne]

Ok, good! Thank you so much for your answers. I think that in my case it is very small changes. and he wants to avoid BSSO because I had artrithis earlier. and we don´t want to trigger anything in the lower jaw joints. also - he explained that if we move the upper jaw 3 mm, the lower jaw will "follow", so doing a BSSO maybe would be "too much jaw". He is the first surgeon I´ve been to that has done such a detailed examination. I´m so glad I went there. I´m from Europe. and the oral surgeons over there didn´t want to do anything.

[Summertimeolive]

I remembered a blogger (amazing blog btw) who had the surgery with Dr.Relle

http://wiredlady.blogspot.com/

[annepanne]

Thank you, the only thing I´m thinking of now, is if I should get a second opinion? But I do feel I really think Dr.relle is very good. and it is so expensive to get another consultation. I´ve just been reading here about people seeing so many surgoens before they decide.. The thing I liked about dr. relle is that he said there would be tons of surgeons around Beverly hills that probably would say I needed both this and that. But he said that we want to do as little as possible -when it´s not needed.

[sarpevictim]

Yes, out of all of the oral surgeons I say, I can definitely say Dr.Relle's consultation was the most detailed. (In the end, I did not do my jaw surgery with Relle due to the fact that he is no longer with Kaiser, and because I have Kaiser health insurance, they do not cover out of network doctors. He was kind and offered me a big reduction in costs, but in the end it was still too much to pay out of pocket). I went with a surgeon that was trained by Relle.

I always like to get several opinions, so I saw several oral surgeons. I know the consultations are pretty steep, but I feel like this is a once in a lifetime thing and you want to know all of your options.

But like I said, Relle is a very good oral surgeon. I don't know of an oral surgeon or orthodontist that knows his name that hasn't said something along the lines of that he is a very good oral surgeon. His method is definitely minimalist...only what you really need.

Either way, good luck with your surgery and I hope everything turns out good and pretty.

[LAJaw]

My surgery was performed by Dr. Relle through Kaiser and had a great experience & outcome. The guy does like 300-400 procedures a year, he's a machine.

When did he leave Kaiser? I just got debraced and was planning on scheduling a concluding follow-up with him for final records.

[r2ndc]

[quote="sarpevictim"]Yes, out of all of the oral surgeons I say, I can definitely say Dr.Relle's consultation was the most detailed. (In the end, I did not do my jaw surgery with Relle due to the fact that he is no longer with Kaiser, and because I have Kaiser health insurance, they do not cover out of network doctors. He was kind and offered me a big reduction in costs, but in the end it was still too much to pay out of pocket). [b]I went with a surgeon that was trained by Relle.[/b]

I always like to get several opinions, so I saw several oral surgeons. I know the consultations are pretty steep, but I feel like this is a once in a lifetime thing and you want to know all of your options.

But like I said, Relle is a very good oral surgeon. I don't know of an oral surgeon or orthodontist that knows his name that hasn't said something along the lines of that he is a very good oral surgeon. His method is definitely minimalist...only what you really need.

Either way, good luck with your surgery and I hope everything turns out good and pretty. [/quote]

I realize this post was way back, but which surgeon did you ended up going with (the one who was trained by Relle) ? Thinking of getting appointment with MD at Kaiser LA.

Thanks!