ALL about the MARPE - Skeletal Expansion

The AirSync skeletal expansion technique (using the MARPE), has been successful in expanding adult jaws into their mid-60s, most of which without the need for additional cuts in the bone.

All of our MARPEs are custom designed and 3D-printed, by using sophisticated software with our famous laboratory, Partners Dental Studio. Customized MARPEs with specialized screws are more robust, sturdy, and get the job done. There are some patients who still benefit from the help of a few small cuts in the bone, but that is now rare.

Dr. Santiago is EXTREMELY proud of her planning technique, surgical skills and in-office placement of all of her MARPEs.

AirSync’s consistent MARPE results are founded on 3 parameters:

1. Custom design with Tiger Screws and custom selection of anchors

2. Customized turning protocols (slow, not fast)

3. Constant evolution and ingenuity of Dr. Santiago’s MARPE practice and education from the best MARPE practitioners in the world!

MARPE at a glance

Adult palates are not fused. They are more tightly connected, but not fused. With custom MARPE design, strategic placement of the anchors, a powerful screw, and slow turning protocol, we can tease the suture open.

MARPEs consistently optimize the width of the jaw and nasal passages. If we create more optimal nasal anatomy that allows for calm passive airflow, we create a more stable airway. The more stable the airway, the less collapsibility, the less mechanical obstruction.

MARPEs help optimize the nasal anatomy to what nature intended. Often patients do not need to go for ENT surgeries after expansion of the nasal floor. It is that awesome.

A MARPE is the only appliance that changes/optimizes every suture connecting to the upper jaw.

• This means that we can use the MARPE to translate or move the upper jaw forward (and we have done so in adult males up to 9mm forward).

• We see changes boney asymmetries; for example we see asymmetric eyes become symmetric

• We see the sphenoid rotate into place

The nose is the key to optimal breathing and more optimized sleep.

A MARPE (aside from a 3-piece jaw surgery) is the ONLY technique that has a significant impact on nasal breathing.

Thus far, almost every MARPE patient has been a raving fan (some of the teens grumble, so we cannot include them in the club).

Think twice about just straightening your teeth without an assessment of your nasal breathing, sleep. Take a look at why your teeth are not straight.

At AirSync, we treat the foundation first, develop optimally sized jaws and airways, then address the correct tooth position. Orthopedic means that the treatment is targeting the foundation (bone) first, then the teeth. The goal is to get as much skeletal and bone re-development (in which the teeth move within the bone), making a sturdier and larger foundation with ample room for the tongue, teeth, and airway space behind the tongue. Just like building a house, the quality and stability of the house are directly linked to the foundation.

Whether by turning on bone growth centers or using combined advanced orthopedic and orthodontic techniques, we can change the shape of the upper and lower jaws, make them wider or move them forward without the need for jaw surgery. Some cases require jaw surgery, but building a better upper jaw first prior to jaw surgery gives even more successful outcomes.

It is an exciting time to be able to help teens and adults get the smiles, airway, sleep, and health they deserve.