Many participants in my E.C.H.O. or E.R.R.S.™ Mentorships have taken multiple airway courses and still feel unsure of what to do, how to do it, or how to treat patients successfully.
They often lack confidence, despite significant time and money invested in education.
Our goal in these mentorships is simple: to empower doctors to know what to do, how to do it, and how to successfully incorporate airway treatment into their practices.
By essentially holding a student’s hand from the very beginning and guiding them through every step of the process, we help timid airway providers become confident clinicians.
They learn how to evaluate, diagnose, treatment plan, and carry out airway-focused treatments.
Just as importantly, they gain confidence in thinking on their feet when obstacles arise.
Watching this transformation is a beautiful thing.
Many doctors are motivated to pursue airway education because they recognize airway problems in one or more family members.
It is deeply gratifying to see doctors achieve successful outcomes not only in their practices, but also with their own children.
One of the techniques we teach focuses on developing the entire face forward.
This approach is challenging for both the doctor and the patient, and only a small subset of patients are truly committed enough to complete the process.
When done correctly, however, the results can be profound.
One student stands out as particularly successful.
Her daughter was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate. Both upper lateral incisors were missing, and the child presented with a deep, full anterior crossbite.
The child had been followed by a university-based craniofacial panel where no meaningful intervention was taking place.
I refer to this as supervised neglect.
Had nothing changed, the child would have required orthognathic surgery in her late teens.
My student followed every recommendation I made.
She developed the maxilla both laterally and in the anteroposterior plane, fully correcting the severe Class III relationship.
She created space for implants to replace the missing lateral incisors.
She spared her daughter from what had been considered inevitable orthognathic surgery.
The result was one I would have proudly put my own name on.
This doctor was a general dentist who took my course many years earlier.
When she returned to the craniofacial panel that had followed her daughter for years, not one clinician asked what had been done or how the outcome had been achieved.
With strong mentorship, it is absolutely possible to achieve exceptional results.
Results that optimize facial balance.
Results that optimize airway.
This case was a major success on both counts.
