Philosophy Statement

The philosophy of the Airway Collaborative is first to understand the etiology of the deficient and compensated human airway. This includes understanding the structural, functional and behavioral risk factors that begin prenatally.

For the dental professional, regardless of specialty, understanding the medical indications for dental interventions that address the deficient and dysfunctional airway is a paradigm shift away from the current allopathic orthodoxy with which we were all trained and in which techniques and surgery largely define the treatment plan.

This same orthodoxy has largely prevented a comprehensive understanding of the developmental (craniofacial) manifestations of many chronic disease conditions and fosters a clinical mindset for a siloed and device-driven approach that lacks predictability and may maintain unrecognized residual disease. This is part and parcel of the current medical system and how the health professional makes a living. It is not to say that devices have no place in addressing the deficient airway but rather that they may represent only a part of the intervention.

It is the Airway Collaborative’s goal and philosophy to first understand the multi-faceted etiology related to optimal breathing and sleep health via a science-validated and human systems approach (bioregulatory medicine), as opposed to a siloed and reductionist view that limits our understanding of complex health problems.

Our training curriculum reflects the aforementioned values via a staged approach that is first founded on understanding the medical indications and is then translated into an efficient, integrated and interdisciplinary team philosophy that is patient centric. We are unbiased on the device or technique that is utilized and ultimately beholden to the predictable outcome that carries long-term global health benefits rather than the symptom or clinical sign du jour. This holistic approach informs and directs the treatment plan options and sequence.

After reaching a comprehensive clinical understanding of the deficient airway, we teach clinical techniques that can be integrated with an efficient team approach that is scalable, predictable and which mitigates long-term healthcare cost while optimizing quality/quantity of life.

The patients’ acceptance of the treatment recommendations transcends the dental complaints and concerns they raise. As a result, the necessary financial/fiduciary reality associated with access to care is greatly facilitated by the patients’ appreciation of the global health benefit and increase in their personal and familial quality of life.