Gina Pepitone-Mattiello’s guest on today’s episode of the “Get a Gasp” podcast is her good friend, Cathy DiStefano, dental hygienist and myofunctional therapist, who shares discusses the effects of tongue-ties, and the impact that myofunctional therapy can have upon a patient’s airway and sleep.
Episode Highlights:
- Cathy’s background and how much dentistry has changed over her career
- How myofunctional therapy can help achieve deep restorative sleep
- The effects of tongue-ties
- The ‘thumb habit’ and its consequences
Quotes:
“We started back in the day when, you know, there were no gloves!”
“We’re just making these night guards which very often can make their sleep apnea worse if they do have it.”
“They’re testing for sleep disturbances before they put children on medication, and I’m so happy to see that.”
“The tongue-tie is causing the sleep obstruction.”
“It’s all about the tongue and the airway.”
“We have the capability through myofunctional therapy to retrain, re-educate these muscles…to be relaxed to allow ourselves to have the deep restorative sleep that we need.”
“We could be called plastic surgeons!”
“Everybody needs to really understand all of the items that will impact the airway.”
Links:
The Dental Podcast Network Channel One homepage:
http://dentalpodcastnetworkchannelone.otcpn.libsynpro.com/
The Dental Podcast Network Channel Two homepage:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dental-podcast-networks-channel-two/id1478530429
Get a Gasp Episodes: https://ataleoftwohygienists.com/getagasp/
