Dental Sleep Medicine Insider February 2016 | Page 20

Who’s

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Dr. Paul Schwedfeger & Dr. Matt Schwedfeger
This month’s Who’s Who of DS3 features a two-fer as I interviewed
Doctors Paul & Matt Schwedfeger of Village Smiles Dental in Pittsford, NY.
Frances: What prompted you to get involved in Dental
Sleep Medicine?
Dr. Paul: In my first decade of practice, I took many
classes in periodontics and restorative dentistry. As
part of this I also became a disciple of Dawson and Pankey. For a period of at least 10 to 15 years I also focused
on cosmetic dentistry. Later a large focus of my practice was implant dentistry and on my quest to learn as
much as I can about this wonderful profession I knew
that the study of dental sleep medicine would be my
last focus.
Dr. Matt: Have you ever had a close friend or family
member who snores like a freight train? I have, and it is
a nuisance… until it becomes scary. They stop breathing for 10, 20, 30 seconds at a time! I never knew how
serious this actually was until I started to immerse myself in dental sleep medicine. I thought that it was a
little odd that dental school omitted dental sleep medicine from our curriculum. It wasn’t until I got out into
the real world that I realized why. OSA is frighteningly
under-diagnosed. Speaking with other dentists and

physicians, the lack of OSA awareness is shocking. I realized that if I focused my training on the treatment of
sleep apnea that I would be doing my patients and the
local community a great service.
Frances: Once you made that shift, what obstacles did
you encounter?How have you overcome them?
Dr. Matt: Once beginning my journey into dental sleep
medicine I realized that the very first obstacle was to
learn and then learn some more. As I said before, dental school was no help in this field. Making time for
countless hours of dental sleep medicine education
was easy, if you are passionate about the cause. Dental sleep medicine involves working with the medical
community and local physicians. For a dentist, entering the medical world can be scary for some. New
terminology, processes, and the dreaded medical insurance! The best way to overcome the shift from the
dental to the medical realm is finding mentors in the
field. Never be afraid to ask for help. Drs. Yatros and
Drake from DS3 have been so inviting and open when
it comes to learning. But it is not only them, Dr. John
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