Nose Breathing, Sleep Apnea, and the Primary Care Dentist
Today's dental professional is becoming more important as an integrated part of health care. Everyday dentistry considers whole-body health when they assess patients for oral disease, breathing disorders, and medical history. Primary care physicians need our help to impact community health. This talk will show how dentists can become more important in their patient's health care team by asking the right questions, looking for more ways to help, and providing people with a caring, friendly health care provider who is interested in prevention.
At the end of this talk, learners will:
- Be able to ask the right questions during a health history to uncover important medical data.
- Guide patients to understand the connection between nose breathing and general health
- See themselves not as 'only a dentist' but as an integral part of primary health care.
Steve Carstensen, DDS
Steve Carstensen, DDS has treated sleep apnea and snoring in Bellevue, WA since 1998. He’s the Consultant to the ADA for sleep related breathing disorders and heads the ADA’s Children’s Airway Initiative. He trained at UCLA’s Mini-Residency in Dental Sleep Medicine and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine. He lectures internationally, directs sleep education at Airway Technologies and the Pankey Institute and is a guest lecturer at Spear Education and Louisiana State Dental School, in addition to advising several other sleep-related manufacturers. In 2014 he helped found Dental Sleep Practice Magazine and currently serves as Chief Dental Editor. In 2019, Quintessence published A Clinician’s Handbook for Dental Sleep Medicine, written with a co-author. The American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine awarded him with the Distinguished Service Award in 2023. Dr. Carstensen is a Diplomate, American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine; a Fellow, International College of Dentistry, a Fellow, Academy of General Dentistry and a Fellow, American College of Dentistry.
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