Why Airway-Oriented Care Requires a Different Kind of Thinking
Traditional orthodontics often overlooks airway health, focusing solely on teeth alignment. A shift towards airway-oriented care emphasizes forward facial growth to improve breathing and overall well-being.
Why I Don’t Believe In One And Done Teaching
Dentistry is a ‘doing’ profession requiring hands-on experience; mastering complex procedures can’t be achieved through a single lecture—continuous mentorship and practice are essential.
Why I Treat The Providers I Mentor Like Colleagues – Not Students
Mentorship thrives on mutual respect and shared goals—not hierarchy. Openness encourages questions, collaboration, and growth for everyone involved, creating a stronger, more connected professional community.
Doctors giving courses who criticize or suggest that something bad may happen with your proposed treatment
News & Blog “If you do that, you’ll push the teeth off the bone support and lose teeth.”“If you keep the child in a retainer, you’ll arrest the growth of their jaws.”“You can’t expand the maxilla without surgical assistance or TADs, or you’ll cause teeth to tip and be lost.”“That approach is discredited and doesn’t […]
Practice owners who don’t want to change
News & Blog You’ve just had a conversation with a dental colleague who has opened your eyes—literally and figuratively—to airway issues, and now you want to get on board. Maybe you have a child struggling with airway problems, and you know there’s an issue that needs solving. Maybe you’ve noticed a colleague or friend who […]
Feeling alone when everyone else is still straightening teeth and making them fit like gears
News & Blog Over 40 years ago, when doubts about the scientific basis of my orthodontic training began creeping into my mind, I was able to shut them out. How could my instructors not have known that the faces would look worse when I finished treatment? Surely, they would have warned me! This was long […]
Parents who don’t understand there is a problem
News & Blog “My child sleeps great!”“My child doesn’t snore!”“My child is totally fine!” …Meanwhile, they’re bouncing off the walls, unable to focus for more than a nanosecond, and their teacher is begging for them to be removed from the classroom. As parents, we naturally focus on the positives in our children. We want to […]
Team members who don’t want to change
News & Blog Momentum is a powerful thing. You’ve just returned from a conference where you “saw the light”. Excited and energized, you walk into your Monday morning huddle, ready to share the game-changing insights you’ve learned. And then… silence. Not even caffeine can wake your team from their deep sleep. When you leave the […]
Knowing what works and what doesn’t work technically
News & Blog Wouldn’t it be nice if everything were as easy as “expand, expand, and expand some more” with assured success? Doctors could build practices using the latest “magic” or “miracle” appliance they learned about on the internet or from a course promoting a commercially available device that promises to grow the face. Dream […]
Common Challenges In Airway Orthodontics And How To Overcome Them
News & Blog The fact is that 8 years after the ADA mandated dentists screen for airway issues, little has changed in the profession. It is easy to be discouraged when you read the refereed literature with case reports showing retraction. Many published case reports do not even mention the word “airway” much less discussing optimizing […]