Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello all, I'm writing this because I've made a decision to a 90% but I am not sure if I am doing right. I am a guy from Spain in the US, 26, I've always wanted to correct my smile and now that I have a job and insurance I thought it is the ideal time to do so.
I've gone to 4 ortho consultations, all 4 of them agreed that I need SARPE for my palatal expansion and closing my open bite + braces. Then, I went to check with the surgeon and he also said SARPE would probably but he suggested a 3-piece LeFort surgery to close the open bite with more predictability. He called the ortho that I finally chose and he agreed LeFort would be better.

SARPE would be surgery in 1 month + 17 months of braces
LeFort I would be 6-9 months of braces + surgery (6 weeks recovery) + 9 more months of braces

Both procedures are similar in length but of course SARPE is less invasive and he says the recovery is shorter and less painful (he said I could go back to work in 1 week). He also said that for a LeFort I would probably need my family here for 2 weeks to help my recovery, but the circumstances make this very hard. Also he is afraid of the possibility of relapse with just the SARPE.

Anyone had any experience of closing an open bite with just SARPE+braces? Anyone could give me some details on the recovery for both processes? My mum adviced that due to my circumstances a SARPE would be better, since I am in a different country, alone, and surgery is not for playing games, but I am afraid of not doing the optimal thing...


Any advice would be appreciated, thank you very much!

I had SARPE and then double jaw surgery (just a regular Lefort I though, not 3-piece).

The recovery for them is similar but the SARPE is less intense and quicker. I was able to have soft foods again right away, whereas the double jaw surgery required liquids for awhile. The swelling also went down much quicker.

SARPE and braces did a pretty decent job of closing my anterior open bite prior to jaw surgery, although it wasn't perfect, but they weren't actually trying to close it before the jaw surgery.

By the way, I don't think you'd need your family for two weeks for the Lefort I. It's helpful the first few days but there are people on these boards who did not have any help at all and they were fine.

I took 2 weeks off for SARPE and thought that was the perfect amount of time.

I had a 3-piece lefort back on 6/8/16. That was a Wednesday. By Sunday, I made the venture and drove around town to get out for a little bit. By a full week, I was able to get around and take care of myself. It wasn't horrible, but I certainly would not want to go through the process again. The nose bleeding and drainage was the worst part.

I'm just over 2 months and a week post op. I can chew comfortably on my right side, I'm starting to chew better on my left side without feeling much pressure, but I still have a bit of pressure if I try to bite into something... To the point where I'm just not ready to divulge into a burger yet. I can bite into a cookie though, so I'm making progress! I just look at my status once a week and think how it felt a week or two ago. You can't monitor your progress daily or there won't be any changes... At least every week or two, I notice small, very small, progresses.

What about the aesthetics of a multi-segment LF1 VS SARPE? Some articles I read said SARPE has more of an effect on the cheekbones (a desirable effect) and SARPE might do more in terms of opening up the nasal passages if you have trouble breathing. You can also get more expansion with SAPRE than with a multi-segment LF1.