Dental Sleep Medicine Insider November DSM Insider | Page 33

STACY OCHOA, DDS
THE AIRWAY TIME MACHINE;
MAKE A DIFFERENCE EARLY WITH PREVENTION!
M
ost of us reading this have
had a role in the Adult (18+) air-
way. Whether you are a Den-
tal Sleep Medicine novice or a
pioneer in this exciting and very
important area, airway health
is on your radar. Having treated
adult OSA for the last 15 years,
I’m somewhere in the middle of
this spectrum. I’m no expert but
I’m not the new kid on the block
either. I’ve treated tons of pa-
tients with MADs of all sorts.
In the past few years, I’ve really
started looking at OSA as not just
a nighttime disease but as a 24/7
pathology. Look at your next air-
way patient. Breathing through
their mouths? They complain of
a stuffy nose and cannot re-
member the last time they could
breathe through their nose.
Some of them have had bicus-
pid extractions and as a result,
they probably have very little
room for their tongue. Others
have tongues anchored in the
floor of their mouth via tethered
tongues or tongue ties. Because
of the poor tongue position, you
might also notice a high vaulted
palate as well. All of these issues
started at some point in their
lives. I began thinking, “What if I
could have gotten to these adult
airway patients from the start?
What if I could have helped them
in the beginning of their lives
and prevented this situation
altogether?!?!”
I now have children of my own,
and most of them have some
form of an unhealthy airway. It
clicked with me. I see them at
the beginning and know what
their future holds if this path
doesn’t change direction imme-
diately! I have a chance to make
a difference through PREVEN-
TION and so do you!

We should be screening these
kids in our practices...not just
looking at the teeth. We should
be working collaboratively with
ENTs, Pediatric Sleep Physicians,
Pediatricians, Teachers, Speech
Therapists, and others. Even the
ADA’s new policy paper on OSA
acknowledges our important
role in the airway health of our
pedo patients.
Even if you aren’t in a position
to treat the kids through early
expansion of dental arches, be-
havior modification, and altering
function of the pediatric airway
(which you do have that as an
option!), you can be on the team
through appropriate screening
and referring.

By identifying these kids in your
practice and putting them on
a new path, a healthier airway
path, you can make a dramatic
difference in their lives! Once
you have a better understanding
of what the “airway compro-
mised child” looks like, you will
see them all around you! The
term “epidemic” is oft overused,
but friends, if this isn’t an epi-
demic, I’m not sure what is.
INTERESTED?
JOIN ME AT THE
NADSM SYMPOSIUM.
REGISTER NOW
DR. STACY OCHOA, DDS
Stacy Ochoa has been
treating sleep apnea for
over 10 years and she is
a member of the Ameri-
can Academy of Craniofa-
cial Pain, ADA, AGD, and a
Diplomate of the American
Academy of Dental Sleep
Medicine.