Unexpected Answers unexpectedanswers

Did you ever want your dental insurance explained to you in plain English?  Then this episode is for you!  We explain the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to dental insurance, including some crazy stories about real life issues that we've had to navigate both as the patient and as the provider.  And don't miss the ending - learn about a bad business decision we made early on and how we came to know so much about this topic!

In this episode we talk about some surprising nuances to getting numb in the dental office including anatomy, tricks for people who have difficulty getting numb, dealing with anxiety, laughing gas, and a funny story about the time Nancy used Dave to practice injections.

Did you know a dentist can tell if you're a mouth breather just by looking at you?  Why might a dentist care if you breathe more through your mouth than your nose?  In this episode we discuss the extremes Dr. Gill has gone through to fix her own breathing issues, why nasal breathing is so important for so many aspects of your health, and what you can do to become a better nose breather.  

We include guest podcaster Dr. Julie Haman, a pediatric dentist from St. Paul, Minnesota, as we discuss options for improving early childhood facial development to improve sleep, open up the airway, and potentially avoid the need for braces altogether.

In this episode we look into how breastfeeding isn't just great for newborn nutrition; but also how it helps create beautiful smiles, reduce the need for braces, affects speech, and sets the stage for facial development.

We tell the story of our daughter's battles with night terrors, how we discovered the cause of her sleep disorder, and how we fixed it.  We'll also explore the sleep and breathing connection to our mouths and airways, and the surprising list of health issues a dentist can discover by looking into your mouth.