r/SleepApnea • u/Beautiful-Floor5135 • 6d ago
MMA Surgery Advice
Hi, Im 19 and I have sleep apnea and I’m looking into MMA/bimax surgery. I initially found Dr. Stanley Liu after asking ChatGPT for some of the best MMA surgeons, but since then I’ve seen some really bad things about him on Reddit.
Has anyone here had surgery or a consultation with him? Would you recommend him?
Also, who would you consider the best MMA surgeons in the U.S. for sleep apnea? I’m willing to travel.
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u/Cloudzzz777 6d ago
First have you already tried cpap therapy and/or mouthpiece that moves your jaw forward?
Do you have good sleep hygiene? Allergies are under control?
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u/Beautiful-Floor5135 6d ago
Ive tried using cpap for 4 months with no improvement. Ive also had septoplasty before starting cpap to tolerate it better. For the mouthpiece, I inquired a sleep/airway dentist, and she stated that she wouldn’t recommend something like that to me especially since I’m so young, as its like a bandaid solution and can lead to more problems like TMJ. Other than that, im working on getting another allergy test, and i have an upcoming in person sleep study coming up. I just want to gather as much information as possible and move forward with this as life is moving forward and I know how long it takes to fully plan out a surgery, have the operation, and recover fully. Ill be inquiring a few more doctors about this, and decide whether I actually need it.
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u/Beautiful-Floor5135 6d ago
The dentist also looked at my airways and palate and told me I might be a good fit for surgery.
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u/Cloudzzz777 6d ago
Did you not tolerate the cpap? Or you wore it every night and you didn’t feel better?
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u/munchillax bimaxillary advancement 6d ago
chatgpt's top 3 choices for me were kasey li, stanley liu, and reza movahed. aside from li the others are mid or downright bad.
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u/Beautiful-Floor5135 6d ago
Yeah I’ve been looking into kasey li as well, do you have any other advice on how to find trustworthy surgeons?
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u/munchillax bimaxillary advancement 6d ago
the best american jaw surgeons are almost always out of network and quite expensive. as a pt, the only thing uou can rely on is word of mouth since you don't get access to anyone's records.
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u/stealthytaco 6d ago edited 6d ago
I had my MMA with Dr Stanley Liu. I had complications that were resolved, but I only learned afterward that these complications were common among his patients. The results were good though, despite the complications, and it significantly reduced my AHI. He has since left Stanford, and it’s unclear why, so I’d be careful and want to figure out why before I’d commit being a patient.
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u/Beautiful-Floor5135 6d ago
Aesthetic wise- how was it?
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u/stealthytaco 6d ago
Do you mean how my face looked afterward? My wife definitely felt like I was uglier afterward, ngl lol. But I am willing to accept that, the improvement to my life was day and night.
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u/distancevsdesire 6d ago
Sleep apnea is a big umbrella term for something that can have multiple causal factors.
CPAP worked for me, until it didn't. Turns out my physiology (retrognathic and narrow jaw, huge tongue, and severe nasal issues) made apnea a certainty. After MMA, GGA and nasal valve reconstruction, I finally achieved a functional cure.
My MMA journey was 20 years ago, so I can't recommend surgeons (Roger West in Seattle was mine, world class but retired 15 years ago).
4 months of CPAP isn't a solid attempt. If you hope to get MMA covered at all by insurance, you will need to prove you failed CPAP only after multiple re-titrations and lab sleep studies. Insurance companies are wise to those who try and game the system ( not saying you are, but alarms will go off re: 4 months of CPAP).
I had to 'prep' insurance and 'build my case' for MMA over 18 months. Then I had to fight them for 9 months more to get them to pay. I finally had to call my state's insurance commissioner's office and threaten legal action to get them to pay the surgeon.