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People You Should See Speak and Why

I was fortunate to have met a number of orthodontic speakers at dental conferences and speaker events who helped me develop my own approach to airway dentistry. Sadly most of them are no longer alive or lecturing. 

There are three lecturers (in addition to myself) that I can recommend as having approaches which can and do work to optimize airways. I highly recommend Dr. Brian Hockel, a general dentist doing orthodontics for many decades in Walnut Creek, CA. Dr. Jim Bieneman in Denver, CO is also a general dentist doing orthodontics whom I can also strongly recommend. Both are knowledgeable, mentored by me, and have years of practical experience in doing and innovating effective treatment approaches. Dr, Reza Movahed is a highly specialized Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon with offices in St. Louis, MO and Walnut Creek, CA. His focus is on surgical advancement of both jaws for grown individuals with some emphasis on selective treatment approaches in certain growing individuals. These three people are close friends and colleagues of mine that I’ve known for years and have worked with collaboratively.

In addition to these speakers who talk about the orthodontic and/or surgical approaches to treating airway, there are other airway professionals and airway experts worth hearing. These professionals are actually in related areas and are not specifically orthodontic speakers.    David Gozal, M.D. is Past President of the American Thoracic Society and a well published author regarding sleep related breathing disorders. Robert Lustig, M.D. is a Pediatric Endocrinologist with several books on food and nutrition and how our current food supply affects our health. Stephen Sheldon, D.O. is the retired head of Lurie Children’s Hospital Pediatric Sleep Department and well published in the pediatric sleep literature. Ronald Harper, PhD is a Neurobiologist at UCLA and has published extensively on brain damage resulting from reduced oxygen saturation secondary to sleep/breathing disorders in young children.  James Nestor is an investigative journalist who published “Breath” in 2020. It is now available in 37 languages and has raised awareness worldwide about the health benefits of nasal breathing.  Peter Napolitano, M.D. is an ENT specialist with publications on pediatric sleep issues. David McCarty, M.D. is a sleep physician who has published papers and books on the subject of sleep/breathing disorders.

FAQs About People You Should See Speak and Why

Who are the top speakers in orthodontics and airway health?
In addition to myself, I strongly recommend Brian Hockel, DDS, James Bieneman DDS, and Reza Movahed, DMD, all as noted above.
In reality most orthodontic professionals are not lecturing on important airway issues but more on more efficient ways to straighten teeth. I hope for a change in the future to see every orthodontist involved in treating airway.
Emerging thought leaders in orthodontics are not generally lecturing about airway health issues. I see a lot of interest in aligners and new fixed expansion techniques but without a specific focus on anything but straight teeth.
The biggest benefit is to gain from the experience of those who have done pioneering work in the field and know what works – and more important than what works is what doesn’t work. This saves students from re-inventing the wheel and puts them miles ahead of beginners who are not benefiting from those who have extensive experience. It may also keep them and their patients from having less optimal outcomes.
I believe the most impactful speakers are humble and gladly show their own failures and how they have learned from them. Speakers with big egos whose goal is to impress the audience with their brainpower offer little help to those doctors who are in the trenches trying to help patients be healthier. Perhaps most important in the learning process is the availability of the speaker to collaborate, mentor, and individually coach the student in a long term learning process. Mentorship over a long time span is more beneficial than any lecture from someone who shows only his/her successful cases to amaze the audience.

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