OK, thanx. So your mentioning the 2-3mm gap was independent of RedFountain said and only in reference to the text.
No problem. Yeah, my reference to the 2-3mm was strictly taken from the website. Where I stated 'as mentioned above' it was related to RF's comment on the width of the palate to begin with, which stuck out to me upon looking at the photos, which was stated here:
The case shown here had a pretty wide palate to begin with (around 40mm I'd say?)
Thanks for the thoughts everyone. Yes, I'm going to ask Dr Li to explain the EASE to me more fully next time I'm in contact with him, especially 1) How it sufficiently widens the nasal airway and palate while only leaving a small gap between the front teeth and 2) What the advantage of doing the EASE followed by MMA is over doing the MMA with a segmental Lefort which could also, I understand, widen the jaw.
I'm inclined to trust Dr Li's judgement on this, as he seems like an excellent surgeon, with a huge amount of expertise in expanding the airway. He is also exceptionally contactable - he gives patients his personal email address, and often replies to emails within minutes or a couple of hours. The main problem I'm encountering is finding an orthodontist where I'm based (near Dallas, Texas) who is happy to work with a surgeon out of state. Has anyone else worked with an out-of-state surgeon and a local orthodontist?
I'm sure, Dr.Li, is well respected in his field, but all the most prominent surgeons in this field are all well informed with regards to sleep apnea. At the end of the day, it's up to you, I hope you do consult with other maxfax surgeons for your own sake and then make an informed decision on what would be the best possible way to treat your problems. That way at least you wont have any regrets in case things do go wrong.
Also, ask him about the possibility of the jaw relapsing? SARPE also isn't a foolproof method and your jaws can[in extreme circumstances] relapse to pre-surgery state. From my consultation, my surgeon mentioned that even after SARPE, the jaw may very well narrow over-time with age, I was told that I may see even a 1mm-2mm narrowing and so he'll widen the arch taking that into account.
With all due respect, doctor's giving out their e-mail or replying quick to them is normal procedure especially if you're a private patient. I can't speak about the US, in the U.K, many surgeons have their own orthodontist they like to select, just make sure that the orthodontist you choose has a vast history in dealing with orthognathic cases.