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 on! If it sounds too good to be true… it probably is.

The fact that no one has won the Nobel Prize for Medicine by developing an appliance that predictably causes the face to grow forward and optimize the airway might be a reason for skepticism. My own decades-long experience in the airway arena leads me to tell my students:

“You can’t expand your way out of an anteroposterior problem… and sleep/breathing disorders are primarily A-P problems.”

Claims are easy to make but not so easy to prove. Become a skeptic. Learn the skills necessary to critically assess faces and determine for yourself whether the claims hold true.

When someone warns that a particular treatment might cause harm, ask them to show you a case from the literature where that harm has actually occurred. If they can’t, you might wonder why. Likewise, if someone touts a treatment as a miracle but fails to provide long-term evidence, ask them to produce supporting literature.

If a proposed treatment claims to have zero potential for retraction or airway reduction, do you ask for proof? If not, why not? As a treating doctor, do you want to be the Beta Test Site for treatments without long-term follow-up?

When you’re in the real world—where the rubber meets the road—and must answer to the parents or the patient, you want to know, deep inside, that what you’re doing is the best possible course of action.

Skepticism is a good thing. In our mentorship, we focus heavily on educating our students to be informed consumers—because, ultimately, the treating doctor is responsible for the choices they make.