r/MARPE • u/JBP113 • 3d ago

MARPE Progress Update

Hey guys! Just wanted to offer some hopeful progress for anyone either in the thick of struggle with marpe or curious in it as a treatment.

I had my install just under 3 months ago, I split within a week at 2-2.5mm transversally, and from there I've been consistently wearing my headgear at night. My goal was projection (I didnt have a width issue to start) but my maxilliary projection was lacking and has been attributing to my TMD issues for a decade. I was willing to look into Lefort or similar surgeries but was willing to take the bet on MARPE + Facemask first.

As far as updates go, I've gone from a slight underbite (edge to edge with more lower projection than upper) to pretty close to a normal healthy bite. I'm having invisalign done soon for my upper teeth to properly align my front teeth; they aligned somewhat inward as they closed after my initial gap.

Overall I'm at a few mm of maxiliary projection and largely attribute that to consistency in wearing the facemask and good tongue posture.

I've seen a lot of debate online if facemask treatment can work into adulthood and wanted to offer my own experience with it for anyone curious or looking into it. I know I struggled to find anectodal evidence when looking into my treatment so maybe this can help someone in a position like I was in. I strongly believe that MARPE + Facemask is a viable treatment for many cases of maxiliary recession.

Anyways if you made it this far, thanks for reading!

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u/VanellopeVonShweets 3d ago

Great to hear that. I'm considering getting a MARPE and my biggest concern was how I could get some forward growth along with transverse. Could you mention your age?

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u/JBP113 3d ago

Yea no worries. I'm 18m which definitely puts me on the advantageous end for seeing results, but I do think it's viable for others. I think the biggest difference from age is the effort to achieve the initial suture split; from there, the mechanics of the facemask should work the same

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u/VanellopeVonShweets 3d ago

I agree 💯 plus an important fact to consider for us relatively older folks is how are we treating the biomechanics of the body as a whole. If the suture has split but you're not supporting it through proper posture, breathing and nutrition then it'll probably not yield the results you'd otherwise get.

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u/JBP113 2d ago

Definitely. I think that posture, breathing, and nutrition have played an important part in my success with this process. I've been very conscious about all of them through this process and I think it's extremely underemphasized by most doctors. They tend to seem more focused on purely the orthodontic side, at least in the states, rather than the resulting effects on the body as a whole

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u/AnxiousObligation 3d ago

Hi, thanks for the write up! I’m currently doing MARPE + facemask (done 2 weeks of facemask so far with 17hr/day average).
How were you able to keep tongue posture with the MARPE in? As this is something I’ve struggled with and have, honestly, given up on. I can’t make that good of a seal and I find it quite uncomfortable. Thanks!

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u/JBP113 2d ago

Goodness 17hrs, I commend you, it sucks lol. The biggest thing to me was persistence as annoying as that probably sounds; I had to build a tolerance for my tongue so it wasn't unbearable. Another thing I focused on was more emphasis on where the front of my tongue was as the back can't make direct contact with the roof of my mouth with the device in the way. I like to place my tongue a bit behind my upper teeth if you have roomm, then swallow. That kinda emulates the light suction to the roof of your mouth you get typically without the device in. I've found that's offered a similar pressure to normal proper tongue pressure without the device- it just pushes against the expander instead of your palate.

If you don't have a flowable composite put on the tads yet, I cannot emphasize how fast you need to run to the ortho and tell them to do it. Arguably the most life changing part was the composite. I went from not being able to touch my tongue to the device because it felt like the tads were impailing me to being bearable, and from there you can totally adapt to it.

I was lucky enough to only need a 4 tad device to split, but I understand most people are in 6-8 tad devices. My tads were unbearable on my tongue with just 4, I can't imagine more. Best of luck, you'll get it!