About Face: How Airway Dentistry Can Open Your Path to Healing and Wellbeing

By Sheryl Pomerance

Face size matters!

 

90% of the population reaches adulthood with underdeveloped midfaces and lower jaws. This causes lots of crowding—the teeth, tongue, tonsils, and adenoids are crowded. The nasal septum deviates to one side or the other, ears get congested. The airway is restricted, and the body responds by shifting into the Sympathetic Nervous System. Living in low-level sympathetic mode erodes health. This can contribute to anxiety, headaches, low thyroid, ADHD/ADD symptoms, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and many other common mental or physical health conditions.

 

Dr. Pomerance was part of that 90%. In About Face, she shares her Airway Dentistry expertise regarding face size and health outcomes stemming from years of continuing education, her personal health struggles, and decades of clinical experience, explaining:

• How facial underdevelopment happens
• What to do to avoid it
• How to identify it
• How to resolve the underdevelopment to restore health and wellbeing

Whether you're a dental professional or simply want to learn more about the subject to improve your quality of life, About Face provides a wealth of information and resources in an accessible, comprehensive format.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SHERYL A POMERANCE
• Release date: Nov 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798988934417

Book preview

About Face

How Airway Dentistry Can Open

Your Path to Healing and Wellbeing

Sheryl Pomerance, DDS

Copyright © 2023, Sheryl Pomerance

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical (including any information storage retrieval system) without the express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations for use in articles and reviews wherein appropriate attribution of the source is made.

Publishing support provided by

Ignite Press

5070 N. Sixth St. #189

Fresno, CA 93710

www.IgnitePress.us

ISBN: 979-8-9889344-0-0

ISBN: 979-8-9889344-1-7 (E-book)

For bulk purchases and for booking, contact:

Sheryl Pomerance

www.PomeranceDentalCare.com

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, web addresses or links contained in this book may have been changed since publication and may no longer be valid.

The content of this book and all expressed opinions are those of the author and do not reflect the publisher or the publishing team. The author is solely responsible for all content included herein.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023912397

Cover design by Ronald Cruz

Edited by Charlie Wormhoudt

Interior design by Jetlaunch

FIRST EDITION

To my husband, Patrick, always willing to be my sounding board.

To my office manager, Cristine, and my hygienist, Lee Ann, for believing in me and supporting my work in integrative airway dentistry all these years.

To all the courageous healthcare professionals who continue to seek out and treat the root causes of physiological ailments and symptoms that affect so many.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I’d like to thank all those who have paved the way for this new paradigm in healthcare. Looking back over the past hundred years to those who have questioned the status quo and then taken action to uncover root causes of physiological maladies—it is difficult but ultimately rewarding, to be ahead of the curve.

Thanks to the first orthodontist to whom I referred patients in 1981, Dr. Vincent Finazzo, who sent me a stack of research articles on the airway and its effect on the need for orthodontic therapy. Further he told me to send prospective patients to an ENT physician for an airway evaluation BEFORE he would see them. This airway outlook was dropped into my lap so early in my career.

Thanks to Dr. John Witzig, a pioneer in dental expansion for adults. He helped me personally and then professionally to envision a different path of treatment for those with crowded teeth and TMJ dysfunction.

Thanks to Dr. Walter Brehm, for my first orthodontic instruction course at the University of Detroit Dental School Continuing Education program. I learned about expansion with first phase treatment in the eight- to ten-year-old with utility arch wires.

Thanks to Dr. Richard Litt for helping me learn how to finish cases. He instilled the idea that as soon as you see a crossbite, you fix it.

Thanks to Dr. Mark Abramson for his enthusiastic teaching about obstructive sleep apnea and the application of dental devices to manage its symptoms.

Thanks to Dr. Earl Bergeson, creator of the Ortho-Tain system. I call it Beautiful face without braces. This system was the inspiration for today’s clear aligners systems like Invisalign.

Thanks to Dr. Barry Raphael, who in 2014 wagged his finger in my face at the AAPMD meeting and told me that I must learn how to use Biobloc appliances.

Thanks to Patrick McKeown for bringing Buteyko breathing to the attention of the western world.

Thanks to Dr. Karen O’Rourke for hosting the Orthotropic Residency Program and the Buteyko Breathing Instruction Course in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Thanks to John Mew, the ultimate pioneer in growth guidance, for promoting his principles of proper oral posture and facial development.

Thanks to Roger Price for instilling the importance of functional breathing habits in me and my staff. And for introducing me to Dr. Dave Singh.

Thanks to Dr. Larry Kotlow for pioneering the practice of infant tongue tie release and all his amazing instructional courses.

Thanks to Dr. Dave Singh for his robust body of research and development of the biomimetic devices that have helped and continue to help so many realize their airway health potentials.

Thanks to my editorial board, Jessica Bright, MD, Sarah Deward, Norman Pomerance, DDS, LeeAnn Robarge, RDH, CMT, and Paula Schaffner, for making my words and thoughts more understandable.

A special thanks to Cathy Fyock, my book coach, who helped me get this project off the ground and encouraged me to keep going.

And finally, thanks to all those patients who were ready to step out of the line of traditional care in an effort to resolve their health conditions and trusted me to help them to do so.

DISCLAIMER

This publication is designed to provide general information about the subject matter covered and does not constitute clinical or medical advice. The author of this work has made every effort to use sources believed to be reliable to the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. This book is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering professional services to the reader.

Knowledge and best practices in this field are constantly evolving. New research and expertise broaden our understanding of the subject matter and may require changes in professional practices. Always consult with current research and specific organizational policies and procedures prior to performing any medical or clinical procedures. The content is not guaranteed to be correct, complete, or up to date.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any methods, charts, tables, procedures, or other information described in this book. In using such information, they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties with whom they have a professional responsibility. If medical or any other expert assistance is required, the reader should seek the services of a professional. The information contained in this book is not intended to be a substitute for consulting with an experienced professional.

The information provided is provided AS IS and neither the publisher, nor the author, make any express or implied representations or warranties, including warranty of performance, merchantability, and fitness for a specific purpose, regarding the information. Neither the publisher, nor the author, guarantee the completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the information contained in this book. Your use of the information is at your own risk.

To the fullest extent of the law, neither the publisher, nor the author, contributors, researchers, or editors, assume any liability for an injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, malpractice, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, instructions, or ideas contained in this book. The forgoing parties will not be liable for any direct, special, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages or any other damages whatsoever for any reason, including, but not limited to, as a result of the reader’s use of, or reliance on the use of, the information contained in this book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Reason I Do What I Do

Chapter 2: Is This You?

Chapter 3: Cause of the Root Cause—Facial Underdevelopment

Chapter 4: Is This You? The Rest of the Patient Stories and Their Solutions

Chapter 5: All Ages

Chapter 6: Choices for Facial Redevelopment

Chapter 7: Getting It Done

Chapter 8: Getting the Help That You Need

Chapter 9: Potential Course of Treatment—What to Expect

Chapter 10: A Very Short Historical Perspective

Final Thoughts

Glossary

About the Author

PREFACE

In 2017, the American Dental Association issued a two-page policy stating it is the responsibility of general dentists to identify those patients who have risk factors for the possibility of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

In other words, general dentists should be screening for conditions that indicate there is an upper airway problem. Most dentists are unaware of this policy statement. Further, there is no consensus on how to determine these risk factors.

I will explain how measurements and classifications of oral structures can help to determine risk for SDB and OSA. Dentists hold the keys to the kingdom of healthcare. Unfortunately, most of them are not aware of