May 2018
Spotlight of the Month
Dr. Jay Khorsandi, DDS
Snore Experts, Los Angeles, CA
I’ve been in dentistry for almost 20 years and have been exposed to all levels of practice from associateships, to private practice owner, to corporate dentistry executive. My journey has also exposed me to a range of dentistry from amalgams to 3D cone beams and hybrid implant restorations. Nothing has been more rewarding than to transform patients lives, and often, their partners when you treat their sleep.
I developed Snore Experts, along with Dr. Jonathan Greenburg, to exclusively treat snoring and sleep apnea across 5 locations in the Southern California area. Because of our unique practice arrangement and volume of patients we have the ability and responsibility to constantly evolve our protocols and treatments in order to offer our patients leading-edge technologies with the best clinical outcomes.
Favorite success story:
When we first started offering CPAP’s for patients, I remember this female patient that came to us for help. She was in her mid 40’s and was severely overweight. Her apnea was off the charts severe and she was desperate for help. We started her on a machine and off she went. The next day, we logged into the portal and noticed that she slept for almost 10 hours and her apnea was gone!! I called her up the following morning and she said “Oh my GOSH, I haven’t slept like that in 10 years.” She was shocked and elated at the same time. I encouraged her to keep going and set her up to come back in 30 days for a follow up.
The second surprise happened when she came back to the office. She had lost over 30 pounds and I immediately noticed. I asked her, what she was doing. Exercise, diet, etc? She said, nothing has changed except I have been sleeping. This was a game changing event for me and really drove home the importance and vital connection between health and sleep.
Tips for Treating Sleep in Your Office:
- • Start looking past the teeth when you examine your patient. We, as dentists, are in a great position to evaluate airway health. Screening your existing patients is the easiest thing to do and you’ll be surprised how many people will say they are affected by snoring or poor sleep.
- • Just like anything else in dentistry, start with the simple cases.
- • Don’t be afraid to reach out for help.
- • Understand that this is not traditional dentistry and realize that the exacting standards that we were trained to maintain cannot be directly applied here. We are often dealing with ranges of improvements vs. exact measurements.
- • Public awareness campaigns – do one or many.
- • We spend a third of our lives asleep and we can’t turn back time. However, we can help people regain what they have lost during years of poor sleep and that is an opportunity that we should not take lightly.
Dr. Jay Khorsandi
Congratulations to our Sleep Certified Dentists who moved up a level this month!
12 Dentists became a Level 4 this month!
Keep up the good work!
Fresh Finds
Featured Course
The Effects of Mouth Breathing
With Patrick Mckeown
Patrick McKeown leads this course, speaking to the harmful long term effects of breathing with the mouth instead of the nose. He informs on how to identify problematic mouth breathing, as well as charts a course for how to alter mouth breathing habits and improve overall respiratory wellness.
Featured Webinar
NightLase –
A Unique Non-Surgical Approach to the Management of Snoring and Sleep Apnea
With Dr. Harvey Shiffman DDS
Dr. Harvey Shiffman’s Laser Dental Center in Boynton Beach, Florida offers a full range of dental treatment and oral health options, with an emphasis on oral rehabilitation. He is a graduate of Georgetown University School of Dentistry and completed a general practice residency at Georgetown University Medical Center with an emphasis on treating medically compromised patients. Dr. Shiffman completed certification with the Academy of Laser Dentistry (ALD) in three types of Laser systems and was recently awarded a Fellowship in the ALD. He is personally involved in the use and development of laser dental procedures over the last decade.
Bring your questions!
Wednesday, May 9th
at 5 PM PST/ 8 PM EST.
What You Should Eat if You Have Sleep Apnea… and What to Avoid
Your diet plays a huge role in so many of your daily functions – from feeling energized and alert, to being able to make great decisions – and that includes your ability to achieve a good night’s rest. And if you suffer from sleep apnea or a sleeping disorder, what you eat can help ease – or exacerbate – your condition.
So, make sure you’re taking all the possible steps to achieve a solid night of sleep by taking note of the following foods that can help you rest easy, or which can hinder your sleep apnea
treatment.
Foods to Love
Cherries & other Melatonin-Rich Foods • Seafood & other Omega-3 Powerhouse Foods • Turkey & other Naturally Tryptophan-Infused Foods.
Foods to Avoid
Bananas • Fatty Meats • High-fat Dairy Products.