On a Mission to Advance Airway Education (w/Dr. Audrey Yoon) [Ep.64]

The DOC Podcast

Don’t miss this fascinating conversation with the amazing and world-renowned Dr. Audrey Yoon!

We discuss:

• How Audrey’s journey in sleep medicine began and the role her training at UCLA played in that journey.
• The role that Dr. Stanley Liu played in Audrey’s passion for airway-focused orthodontic treatment.
• How an interaction with Dr. Christian Guilleminault (“CG”) changed Audrey’s life and launched her into a career focused on airway adult and pediatric airway.
• How Audrey and Mike were both inspired by medical colleagues to go out and teach about airway orthodontics.
• The challenges associated with using polysomnography and AHI classification for diagnosis of pediatric sleep apnea, and why CG expressed regret for creating an AHI scale for pediatric patients.
• The potential for a blood test that determines if a child has sleep apnea.
• Why it is logistically challenging and medically unethical to conduct a double-blinded RCT on the effects of with treatment and control groups.
• The plethora of literature that exists demonstrating the positive impact of expansion on airway patency.
• The difference between anatomical and neuromotor factors in the etiology of OSA/SDB.
• The role the dentist/orthodontist can play in the correction of anatomical factors that contribute to OSA/SDB.
• The recent position statement of the AADSM regarding the impact of different treatment modalities on OSA.
• The reason why many orthodontists remain reluctant to incorporate airway-centered treatment into their practices.
• Audrey’s message to the people who say that it is inappropriate or even malpractice to treat children under the age of 6yo.
• The fact that the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry lists growth disturbances and airway problems as some of the considerations for treatment at any age that the issue is detected.
• Why Audrey sees a number of referrals from her medical colleagues seeking assistance with sleep-related breathing issues.
• What Audrey is working on now to advance the role of orthodontists in sleep medicine, including forming the World Dentofacial Sleep Society.

And much, much more!!