North Texas Dentistry Volume 10 Issue 1 2020 ISSUE 1 DE | Page 19

to enjoy a beautiful smile from us treating the symptoms and
it’s showing in his teeth. With our help, he has now reached his
full potential and realized his true genetic expression like an
identical twin.
Both Nicholas and Matthew have dramatic differences in their
face. Can you guess which one has sleep disordered breathing
issues? Let’s take a closer look at their teeth.
Nicholas’ teeth are crowded and his gums are inflamed. How-
ever, when I look at this as a dental sleep physician, I see a pa-
tient that does not sleep or breathe well. His parents brought
him in to us due to crowded teeth, but what we found was
chronic allergies, dark circles under his eyes, snoring, frequent
throat infections, sleepiness/irritability during the day, and dif-
ficulty listening. He often interrupts people when they are talk-
ing. So as a dentist, how can I help? As a dental sleep physician,
how can I help? I can see that the root cause of this problem can
all be linked to lack of airway development and lack of that deep
sleep I talked about earlier. Both Nicholas and his brother
Matthew have been in treatment with us with our natural re-
movable appliance therapy. They have seen great success in
their growth and development in their upper and lower jaws.
This has helped on many levels, including fewer throat infec-
tions and less irritability upon waking, because they are now
getting the proper oxygen while they are sleeping. The dark cir-
cles under their eyes have significantly diminished and we have
seen their allergies lessen since they have gone from mouth
breathing to nasal breathing through our system. Nicholas’
straight teeth are the side effect of our treatment. He now is able
We are dental sleep physicians. We are the first to recognize the
signs that will hinder our patients sleep now and in the future.
It is vital that we start very early in life – as seen in these before
and after pics of a two-year-old that we started treating last
year. We are helping our patients reach their full growth and
developmental potential. If this two-year-old was to go
untreated he would be looking at extensive orthodontic treat-
ment and struggles in life, like the twin shown here.
Even with the current tools to correct this problem and the
knowledge to provide coaching, we still need other profession-
als’ collaborative help. The dream team should consist of a
dentist, ENT, orofacial myologist, craniosacral therapist, chiro-
practor, nutritionist, medical doctor, orthodontist, and many
more. My personal goal is to create more awareness of this
growing epidemic and teach other professionals about early
prevention. We have the power to help children have a
better future.
Dr. Mark Musso lives in Dallas,
Texas and has been in practice for
over 25 years. He graduated from
Texas Tech in 1990. He received his
DDS from UTHSC in Houston in
1994. Dr. Musso continues to work
at advancing his dental education
and has received advanced training
in implant dentistry, Invisalign, dental
sleep medicine, and craniofacial
development.
He holds certificates from the Las
Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies and Dr. David Singh’s
Course in Craniofacial Epigenetics and the American Academy of Im-
plant Dentistry. He currently holds a prestigious seat on the Vivos Clin-
ical Board serving as a Lead Clinical Advisor. He is a member of the
American Academy of Physiological Medicine and Dentistry. He enjoys
time with his wife, Shonda, and four kids Emily, Taylor, Jake, and Zach.
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