7.4 Simplifying Jaw Surgery with MARPE
Making a scary procedure slightly less risky
In this chapter I will argue another potential benefit of MARPE treatment:
That MARPE can allow a patient to do a simpler, one piece Lefort jaw surgery instead of a multi-piece segmental Lefort, in order to achieve transverse expansion.
One piece maxillary surgeries are inherently lower-risk as they involve less cutting, plating and surgery time.
They are also simpler and therefore less prone to surgical error.
Additionally, I will argue that:
Expanding with MARPE prior to surgery rather than doing a segmental Lefort may also eliminate uncertainty around post-surgical orthodontics, specifically when it comes to matching the upper and lower jaws.
Legitimate Fear of Jaw Surgery
Double jaw surgery can be an incredibly powerful treatment — total reconstruction of the jaws in 3 dimensions, all done in a single day.
So why aren’t patients lining up in droves to have MMA surgeries?
Obviously the cost is a factor. An MMA with a top surgeon costs between $40K-100K.
But I would argue the main factor is actually fear.
Certainly that is true for me. I am terrified of jaw surgery.
Even if I were a billionaire, I would hesitate at the prospect of having both my jaws fractured so that they free-float like dentures, then having it all put back together with titanium plates.
What’s there to be scared of?
Pain? Yes.
Having our loved ones see us swollen like a balloon? Yes.
Eating blended food for months? Definitely.
But these are temporary sufferings that soon become memories — a fair price to pay for the ability to breathe and sleep normally, and to look great.
These are not the things I’m primarily afraid of.
I’m afraid of real complications — post-surgery TMJ problems, cants, asymmetries, and nerve damage that causes permanent numbness.
Risk Mitigation with Jaw Surgery
With a procedure like MMA that has so much potential to cure us, the name of the game becomes risk mitigation. How can we have our cake and eat it too?
How do we set up a jaw surgery plan that brings the risk of complication as close to zero as possible?
Certainly choosing the right surgeon is the primary factor. But any human being can have a bad day and make a mistake.
What if there were a way to simplify the procedure itself, so that regardless of who was operating you, there would be less of a chance of complication?
This is where MARPE comes in.