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Sleep Matters Podcast

Sleep Matters Podcast

著者： Dr. Erin Elliott and Jason Tierney
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Sleep Matters is a mocktail of snarky honesty and straight talk in dental sleep medicine you’ve been looking for. We jump on the grenades most professionals avoid, from medical and dental turf wars and insurance headaches to calling out the latest industry “snake oil.” Sit down with movers, shakers, and iconoclasts as we dive into the clinical and political issues that keep dentists up at night. You’ll learn. You’ll laugh. And you’ll actually look forward to the next episode. SLEEP MATTERS©Sleep Matters Podcast 経済学 衛生・健康的な生活 身体的病い・疾患
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  • Making Dental Sleep Work in a General Dentistry Practice With Dr. Erin Elliott

    Making Dental Sleep Work in a General Dentistry Practice With Dr. Erin Elliott
    2026/09/02

    Most dental sleep courses are built for sleep-only practices. So when a general dentist tries to copy that model, the workflow buckles, the team stalls, claims get denied, and less than 5% ever make it off the starting line.

    Dr. Erin Elliott runs a thriving general practice and treats a lot of sleep. In this episode, she and Jason Tierney get into what actually works when you want to do both, and why the way most dentists start almost guarantees they'll quit.

    Her first year? Three appliances. Then she stopped forcing the sleep-only playbook and built a process that fit a general practice. She talks through the long runway it takes, why leading with insurance is a trap, and how she went from three cases a year to blocking off whole days for sleep.

    The turning point wasn't a system or a billing hack. It was getting out of her own way and handing the program to a sleep champion who owned it, plus a hard look at the small early mistakes that were quietly killing case acceptance.

    If you want to treat more sleep patients without going all-in on sleep, this one's for you. And if you're weighing full-time sleep, you'll hear the other side of that argument too.

    What's on the Menu

    • Why less than 5% of practices ever get their sleep program off the ground
    • The one thing to stop leading with, and what to lead with instead
    • Building a workflow that fits general dentistry instead of fighting it
    • The hire that changes everything, and where to find them
    • The early mistake that was quietly killing her case acceptance
    • Reading a sleep study so the patient has the light-bulb moment
    • When medical insurance actually belongs in the picture

    A Few Threads You'll Hear

    Give it a long runway. Sleep isn't a graft class you implement the Monday after. Dr. Elliott explains why the practices that quit almost always quit right before it clicks.

    Lead with value, not insurance. An oral appliance can look like a piece of plastic or like a life back. The difference is entirely in how the conversation is run, and that's a soft skill most dentists were never taught.

    Make it team-led. The dentist can't be in every op at once. Hear how she got hygienists, assistants, and the front desk speaking about sleep with real confidence, starting with the team's own families in the chair.

    Find your sleep champion. The single biggest unlock in her practice, usually someone promoted from within, given autonomy and the freedom to fail.

    Resources & Links

    • Dr. Erin Elliott — speaker, educator, and dental sleep bio: erinelliottdds.com
    • Sleep Apnea Implementation Course (Dr. Elliott's hands-on training, via 3D Dentists): 3d-dentists.com/courses/sleep-apnea-implementation
    • Dr. Tarun "T-Bone" Agarwal / 3D Dentists — credited for the "don't give away sleep studies" lesson, and a future guest: 3d-dentists.com
    • Episode 18 with Dr. Mark Murphy — the communication and body-language conversation Dr. Elliott references: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1UiyHJMcTBgwMJ2rnwZCTA?si=6465280bef01484d


    The Big Idea

    You don't need a sleep-only practice to change lives. You need a reason to help, a realistic runway, and a team that owns it.

    Even three to five cases a month is a handful of people who sleep better, and who tell everyone they know.

    Dr. Elliott's challenge to every dentist on the fence: if not us, who?

    Press play.
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    26 分
  • TMD, OSA, PRF, & the Importance of Taking Action With Dr. Jamison Spencer

    TMD, OSA, PRF, & the Importance of Taking Action With Dr. Jamison Spencer
    2026/08/19
    Dentists take the course. Fill the notebook. Nod at all the right moments.Then they go home and do nothing with it.Dr. Jamison Spencer has watched that happen for 25 years, and in this episode he tells Dr. Erin Elliott and Jason Tierney exactly why it keeps happening. Along the way: PRF and why he refuses to stop talking about it, the fear that keeps good dentists from helping obvious patients, an AADSM membership number that should bother all of us, why direct-to-consumer companies aren't the villain, and his new book, which he cheerfully calls a cookbook.Fair warning. If you've been getting ready to get ready on dental sleep medicine, this one stings a little.What's on the MenuThe myth of "20 years of experience"PRF, and why there's no smoke and mirrorsWhy courses don't change practicesThe "what ifs" that stop good dentists cold3,000 members. 200,000+ dentists.Direct-to-consumer as proof of demandTreat 100 people before you touch insurancePractical Dental Sleep Medicine (free audiobook code inside)"20 Years of Experience" Is Sometimes One Year, Twenty TimesSpencer's been saying it for years:"There's a big difference between 20 years of experience and one year of experience repeated 20 times."He watched it play out when sleep showed up. A chunk of the TMD world called it a fad and put their heads down. The people paying attention noticed that a lot of TMJ patients also had sleep apnea, and you can't unsee that.Then he nearly did the exact same thing to himself.A Spencer Study Club member kept pushing him to look at PRF. Spencer had lived through prolotherapy, wasn't impressed, and blew him off. The guy kept coming back. Spencer finally bought the book, went into the literature, found more evidence than he expected, and started doing it.Twenty-five years in and he still got talked out of a position he was certain about. That's the point.PRF: No Smoke and MirrorsThe thing Spencer likes most about PRF is how boring the mechanics are. Draw the patient's blood. Spin it in the centrifuge, in the room. Put it back in the same patient."There's no smoke and mirrors."Nobody disappeared into a back room. Nothing got switched. No sourcing questions about whose cells these were.The part that got his attention: it doesn't seem to depend on whose hands are doing it. Dentistry is full of techniques that work beautifully for one gifted operator and nobody else. Spencer says roughly 150 to 200 dentists have now been taught to perform PRF injections and the reports keep coming back the same. He's careful not to oversell it, and then he tells you about patients who were quoted joint replacement as their only remaining option and are now pain free without it.Erin's a believer for personal reasons. Golf gave her a bilateral tennis elbow bad enough that she stopped doing extractions and could barely lift a glass. She got injected, was told to skip the ibuprofen for eight weeks, and at week seven she was ready to call it a failure. Then it was gone. It hasn't come back.Meanwhile most orthopedic surgeons have never heard of PRF. Spencer describes a hand surgeon calling it “fringy” in one sentence and mentioning a friend from training who does nothing else in the next.Square that circle.What Actually Separates the Dentists Who Make ItJason asked what the successful dentists have in common. Spencer pointed at Erin.She heard about something. She took the course. Then she scheduled a patient.That's it. That's the whole differentiator."I know I don't know everything, but I know enough to get started."Erin books a patient for the week after any CE course, before she takes it. Reduced fee or free. Ready to go.Spencer's least favorite question from a dentist who just took his course is what he charges for the procedure. His standard answer:"When I used to suck like you do, I charged a lot less."He's joking. Mostly.The "What Ifs" Are Doing More Damage Than the ProceduresErin has a name for it. Dentists get a case of the what ifs. They think through every terrible outcome before they think through a single good one, and they talk themselves out of helping someone.She posted about using an ampule to reduce the gag reflex and got a wave of questions behind the scenes. Did they sign a consent? Do you have acupuncture licensure? Her guess about where those questions were coming from was correct.Here's the kicker: Spencer got licensed as an acupuncturist in Idaho because he thought he had to. His license lapsed by accident. He went in front of the Board of Dentistry to plead his case, and they asked him who exactly told him a dentist couldn't do this for dental purposes.Then there's the one that should be embarrassing for all of us. A meaningful number of dentists believe that making an oral appliance for themselves without a physician's prescription is an FBI-level crime.To be clear, none of this is an argument for practicing outside your training. Spencer is the guy moving toward ultrasound guidance specifically so that nobody he's ...
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    54 分
  • Circling the Breathing Triangle With Dr. Madan Kandula

    Circling the Breathing Triangle With Dr. Madan Kandula
    2026/08/05
    In this episode, Dr. Erin Elliott and Jason Tierney sit down with Dr. Madan Kandula to explore a part of airway care that too often gets overlooked: the nose.Dr. Kandula is a board-certified ENT and the founder/CEO of ADVENT, an ENT practice built around treating airway concerns across what he calls the "breathing triangle." In just a few years, what started as a single location in Milwaukee has grown into 40 clinics across 6 states.The conversation makes the case that nasal breathing is one of the foundations of successful sleep treatment. Dentists are often the first to notice nasal obstruction in their patients, but the field hasn't always given them a clear next step or a trusted ENT partner to hand it off to. Dr. Kandula explains how improving nasal function can help patients better tolerate and benefit from CPAP or oral appliance therapy, and how the right partnerships can close that gap.This one is for anyone who has ever spotted an airway problem they weren't equipped to solve alone.What's on the MenuWhy nasal breathing is essential to airway healthUnderstanding the breathing triangleExpanding access to nasal and oral appliance treatmentStrengthening collaboration between dentists and ENTsBalancing clinical quality, growth, and missionThe Breathing TriangleDr. Kandula describes the breathing triangle as a simple framework for understanding the airway.The two nostrils form the top points of the triangle, and the back of the throat forms the bottom point. Together, these areas represent the three passages through which a person can breathe.Patients dealing with snoring, sleep apnea, nasal obstruction, or recurring sinus concerns may have problems in more than one part of this connected system. Treating the throat without evaluating the nose can leave an important part of the airway unaddressed.The framework gives patients and providers a clearer way to see how the nose and throat work together.Nasal Breathing as the FoundationDentists working in airway care already understand how much nasal breathing matters. What's often missing is a clear path for what to do once a concern is identified.Without a trusted ENT who understands sleep, oral appliances, and collaborative care, a provider may have little choice but to note the obstruction and move forward with treatment. Dr. Kandula argues that nasal breathing can play a major role in maximizing the effectiveness and tolerability of both CPAP and oral appliance therapy. His goal with ADVENT has been to provide patients access to effective outpatient nasal and sinus treatments while partnering with dentists who provide OAT. Good breathing starts with nasal breathing.Simple Solutions Before Bigger SurgeryOne of ADVENT's central principles is to start with the simplest appropriate treatment.Dr. Kandula explains that many nasal and sinus procedures can be performed in the office under local anesthesia. Depending on the patient, these may include turbinate reduction, treatment of the nasal swell body, or balloon sinuplasty.The point isn't to claim every patient can avoid an operating room. It's to make sure patients have access to less invasive options before moving straight to more intensive surgery.Dr. Kandula describes this as harvesting the low-hanging fruit first. Address the internal obstruction, evaluate the result, and move further up the treatment ladder only when necessary.Nasal Collapse and Root CausesThe same principle applies when a patient experiences nasal sidewall or valve collapse.External nasal dilators and similar products can provide relief in the right situation. But Dr. Kandula cautions against assuming the visible collapse is the only concern.Internal narrowness may be increasing the effort required to breathe through the nose. Treating that internal obstruction first can reduce or eliminate the collapse without requiring additional treatment to the nasal valve.When the valve still needs support, options may include radiofrequency treatment to stiffen the cartilage or a small dissolvable implant placed beneath the tissue.The sequence matters: identify the root cause, begin with the simplest effective option, and escalate only when needed.Oral Appliance Therapy and AccessOral appliance therapy has an important place within ADVENT's breathing triangle approach.Opening the nasal passages can improve breathing, but it doesn't automatically resolve the throat-related obstruction associated with sleep apnea. Patients may still need CPAP, an oral appliance, surgery, or another appropriate treatment.As ADVENT expanded, partnering with local sleep-focused dentists became more complicated and difficult to scale. The availability and experience of potential partners varied from one market to the next.That raised a bigger question: how can an organization consistently provide appropriate oral appliance therapy across dozens of locations without sacrificing quality?Dr. Kandula doesn't claim to have the final answer. He describes it instead as ...
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    51 分
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