{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Sleep Matters Podcast","title":"Rethinking Airway Management","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3159,"description":"Dr. Keith Thornton has spent several decades challenging how dentistry thinks about sleep, breathing, and the airway. In this episode, he joins Jason Tierney and Dr. Erin Elliott to look back at the origins of his work and explain why he sees oral device therapy as much more than a dental treatment.\nDr. Thornton traces his approach to his early training in Navy anesthesia, where airway management meant understanding how the jaw, tongue, and surrounding anatomy influence airflow. That experience shaped the way he later approached sleep patients and eventually led him to view devices such as the TAP as tools for managing the airway rather than simply repositioning the teeth or jaw.\nThe conversation also explores nasal breathing, mouth position, CPAP leak, titration, long-term patient management, and the evolution of dental sleep medicine. Dr. Thornton shares his perspective on where the field has improved, where he believes it has fallen short, and why dentists should think beyond delivering an oral device and instead build systems that follow the patient over time.\nWhat’s on the Menu\nHow anesthesia shaped Dr. Thornton’s approach to airway management\nWhy he sees oral devices as breathing and airway devices\nNasal breathing, mouth position, and CPAP leak\nThe importance of titration, testing, and follow-up\nMoving from appliance delivery to lifetime airway management\nThe Value Add\n\nOne of the clearest ideas in this conversation is that the device itself is only one part of treatment. Dr. Thornton repeatedly brings the discussion back to airway function, breathing, patient response, and what happens after the device is delivered.\nHis approach challenges clinicians to think beyond a single intervention and consider how oral devices, nasal breathing, CPAP, testing, follow-up, and collaboration with medical providers can fit into a broader system of care.\nClinical Concepts & Terminology\n\nAirway Management\nDr. Thornton uses this term to describe maintaining or improving an...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/52Qaaw05xuFHPCIyraqjh64o9mT1jbe9VlOf6cHLHwE/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8zMzg4/ZGE2MTI3YzQwNTcw/ZTRjYjBkNjBkZTZl/NTEyOC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}