Hooray For Airway Palooza!

People with properly developed faces will always have straight teeth, room for wisdom teeth, and superior beauty. Sadly, most of us have some level of crowding and lack of jaw space for wisdom teeth today, meaning almost all of us to have deficient jaws. Since most of us have underdeveloped faces, this epidemic has gone primarily unnoticed by us, including most physicians and dentists. This needs to change because it is one of the major contributing factors to many, if not most, of our modern health problems; most of which originate in poor breathing from small airways.

I am writing this post as I fly back home from an amazing conference called Airway Palooza. I want to share some pearls of wisdom that can help you recognize if you have an airway problem and ways it can be addressed.

My Face Fix So Far

I have written numerous posts on the plight of our small jaws over the years. So I thought it might be a good idea to share the story of mine, and what I have done about it. Maternal smoking, lack of breastfeeding, soft food, swollen tonsils, sinus problems, a deviated septum, and attractive orthodontics all played a role. The good news I was able to correct every problem. I will tell you how at the end of this post.

The Domino Effect of Sleep, Facial Development, And Childhood Behavioral Problems

Today I am sharing a video about a child who was incorrectly diagnosed as having ADD/ADHD when his real problems were allergies and poor breathing that we call sleep disordered breathing. His mother describes a kind of domino effect that when recognized, is easily treatable. At my offices, we have teams of pediatric dentists, orthodontists, surgeons, orofacial myofunctional therapists, and lactation specialists to detect and treat these problems early. When needed, we refer to ENT, allergists, speech pathologists, and more. If more people were aware of the connection between childhood behavioral problems and sleep disordered breathing, millions of children would not suffer as they do. Please watch the video and share it; even if only one child is helped by your sharing, it will be worth it.

Dietary Evolution

Today I want to clarify a few misconceptions about how science classifies and describes the diets of animals, where we fit into the diet picture, and our evolutionary journey here. Interestingly, most omnivores specialize by being either closer to being almost entirely herbivorous or carnivorous. You may be surprised to see where we fall in the spectrum.

What Are Processed Carbohydrates and Why We Should Avoid Them

One of my central warnings on this site is we must avoid eating processed carbohydrates to stave off disease and optimize our health. I have written about it so much that I believed everyone who reads my posts understands what they are. Recently, I have spoken to people who think processed carbs are donuts and cake, not bagels and sandwiches. This post is dedicated to them and all who need a reminder about what processed carbohydrates are, and why they should be avoided. If you don't want to read the whole thing, skip to the end, where I tell you how to identify them and list the most common sources of processed carbs.

What Is The Mallampati Score and Why Knowing It Could Have A Huge Impact On Your Health

Combined with age and neck circumference, a Mallampati Score over 2 is about 94% predictive of sleep apnea. When I see a Mallampati score of 3 or 4, I know the airway is compromised and dig a little deeper into the patients’ backgrounds. If you have never heard of the Mallampati classification system, you are in the majority. It is actually something you can measure yourself. Read on if you are curious.