sarpe vs extractions

[Van'braces]

I just had SARPE (in a 3 piece le fort1 style) done a month ago today. My ortho would not take me on without my doing it.

FYI, a SARPE and 3-piece LeFort are two entirely different surgeries; a LeFort is not a "style" of SARPE. In a SARPE, the surgery consists of making an incision in the palate and then using an RPE to expand the arch, just like would be done in a child (but a child doesn't need the incision.) No osteotome, no screws, no plates, no splints.

A 3-piece Le Fort (as I'm sure you know) involves separating the upper arch from the skull, cutting it into three pieces, trimming, adding, and shifting as necessary, and then using screws and plates to re-attach the parts to the skull. Sometimes a SARPE is done early on and a LeFort later, but I don't think they are ever done at the same time. (youch!)

My surgeon kinda used both terms. All I know is he made made an incision from one side of my upper gum to the other, broke that and broke the palate down the middle and I've been expanding since the week after the surgery,

I had the same type of sarpe/3-piece LeFort, same incision pattern, bone breaks etc. No screws or plates required...

[SPShelly]

van-When did you have yours done and how has it been since?

Sorry, Not trying to steal the thread.

[Van'braces]

van-When did you have yours done and how has it been since?

Sorry, Not trying to steal the thread.

14 months ago. No problems at all, I think I expanded about 12mm in total. I have some nerve damage between my nose and top lip, (fair enough considering where the incisions/fractures were) I can feel everything, but light touch feels very bizarre, like I dont entirely feel it as I should, its not a problem at all though. Im very pleased with the result, my mid face is wider and my smile is huge now. I also used to get a lot of sinus infections and nasal congestion which I dont get anymore, sarpe increases the size of the nasal cavity (palate is larger) which apparently is just what I needed...

[ArchWired28]

archwired, i have a round face with chubbier cheeks (not overweight, just naturally round) so i definitely don't want to make it any wider. yeah, def something to consider. i am leaning towards extractions, even though most othos push the sarpe.

I am the same facial type, round face with wide cheek bones. I wouldn't want any expansion done on me LOL
I understand my opinion may be biased and/or different from what other expressed here, but if I think about it, teeth extraction is so much less invasive and more simple! Are there any side effects? Sure. But with the surgery, it is possible to get in such a mess, that you will never get out of. From my point of view, surgery is definitely justifiable in extreme cases where the gain is expected to dramatically (or at least significantly) improve the quality of life, as measured by essential activities like breathing, chewing, speech etc. Is yours such a case? You decide.

[lochnessimposter]

archwired, i have a round face with chubbier cheeks (not overweight, just naturally round) so i definitely don't want to make it any wider. yeah, def something to consider. i am leaning towards extractions, even though most othos push the sarpe.

I am the same facial type, round face with wide cheek bones. I wouldn't want any expansion done on me LOL
I understand my opinion may be biased and/or different from what other expressed here, but if I think about it, teeth extraction is so much less invasive and more simple! Are there any side effects? Sure. But with the surgery, it is possible to get in such a mess, that you will never get out of. From my point of view, surgery is definitely justifiable in extreme cases where the gain is expected to dramatically (or at least significantly) improve the quality of life, as measured by essential activities like breathing, chewing, speech etc. Is yours such a case? You decide.

yeah, i'm leaning towards extractions. i go in to get my lower braces on fri, so i'm going to talk to him about it then. i have a friend that had sarpe when she was 30, and she said she prob wouldn't have gotten the surgery if she hadn't been getting migraines.