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According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep apnea affects an estimated 18 million Americans. Sleep apnea steals sleep, causing chronic exhaustion and a long list of other ailments, including heart disease, migraines, weight gain, and more. While Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines are often the primary recommended solution, customized oral appliances are also used successfully to combat sleep apnea – particularly for those who cannot tolerate CPAP.

At SML (Space Maintainers Laboratories), one of the most exciting appliances that our labs make is the Full-Breath Solution™. This tongue-controlling oral appliance is designed to keep the airway open during sleep,…

The current COVID-19 crisis has impacted the economic scenario of the global medical and dental market widely and negatively for some. These are unprecedented times. Dentistry is going to recover, although there may be one to two slow years of repair ahead.

Dentistry, as compared to medical procedures, will not be considered as vital in the public mind for the next several years. However, one benefit that dentistry may share with medicine is a renewed faith in expert opinion by the general public. The data suggests that treatment of temporomandibular joint pain and sleep related disorders will keep dentists busy and competitive.Parents will always sacrifice their own health for the health of their children, especially in the newly…

Estimated to affect up to 22 million Americans, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, is known to increase an individual’s risk of fatigue, diabetes, blood pressure, and stroke. Now a new study published in the Journal of Neuroimaging reveals that sleep apnea can also break down the blood-brain barrier and cause brain damage.

The blood-brain barrier is one of the brain’s most important defense mechanisms, helping to shield it from bacteria, infections, and chemicals. According to Rajesh Kumar, an associate professor at the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine and author of the study, “We found that the blood-brain barrier becomes more permeable in obstructive sleep apnea, a breakdown that could contribute to brain…

We all develop habits to help release tension or deal with anxiety. Some of these habits, like finger tapping or knuckle popping, are harmless, while others can be problematic over time. Certain children and even adults develop a habit of chewing on their upper and/or lower lip. In times of stress, all this chewing can lead to wounds that are never given the chance to heal.

It can be difficult to break an ingrained habit like lip chewing, but the Lip Biting Inhibitor can help. This simple device secures a lip guard over the front teeth, pushing the lips outward and making it impossible for the patient to pull their lip between their teeth to start chewing.

This labial shield can also be…

Seminar: “Determinants of Airway Health During the First 2.7 Years of Life”

Presenter: Kevin L. Boyd, DDS MScDATE AND TIMEMarch 10, 2021, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (PST)Course Director: Dr. Joseph Yousefian, DMD, MSLocation: ONLINE EVENT (webinar links will be sent prior to each event)CE Credits: 3 CE credits will be given for each individual seminar.Official Program: Download Comprehensive Treatment Seminars Official Handout

About this Seminar:Malocclusion did not afflict anatomically modern humans for nearly the entire course of their 250,000-year evolutionary history and only began to appreciably appear near the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th/early 19-Centuries. Current prevalence estimations indicate that nearly 75% of children, ages…