Connecting Health Professionals

The family physician not only needs to identify the patients with sleep apnea, but those with other chronic systemic conditions that could be affected or even caused by a breathing disorder.  Our united goal should be to decrease the number of medications that our patients have to take for chronic conditions.  This can become a reality for some by improving the quality of their daytime and nighttime breathing.  Our goal in medicine and dentistry should be to decrease the number of medications and antibiotics necessary to manage disease processes. Instead, let's address the root cause of the condition. 

Pediatricians are a child's very first line of defense when it comes to growth and development of the airway.  From the beginning, it's imperative to recognize a baby that is unable to nurse or struggling with colic and associate these issues with a possible tongue or lip tie.  When a tongue is unable to function due to an anterior or posterior tongue tie, various issues can develop as a result. As a child develops, monitoring their breathing habits and grading tonsils remains vital in preventing airway constrictions leading to issues such as poor sleep, hyperactivity, and bed wetting.   Recognizing the link going forward can transform the pediatric practice.  

The Ear, Nose, and Throat physician will  be increasingly more utilized by the dental community as a referral.  Practitioners in the dental community can identify issues such as nasal valve stenosis, deviated septum, chronic sinusitis or allergies, and enlarged tonsils.  Working together to make these patients well will impart lasting change for people.

Sleep physicians are highly trained in treating people with systemic conditions from chronic migraines to heart disease by improving their quality of sleep.  It is important to utilize a quality sleep lab that tests for the variety of sleep disorder conditions that exist from the child to the adult.  

The oral and maxillofacial surgeon is both a dentist and a medical doctor by training and can provide various surgical interventions to maximize airway volume.  The oral and maxillofacial surgeons can also work with colleagues in the medical community to increase awareness and diagnosis regarding airway dysfunction.