{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Sleep Matters Podcast","title":"Dental Sleep Labs, Bite Records, and Why Most Appliances Fail","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/9263cee7\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2359,"description":"Why do some oral appliances fail before they ever reach the patient’s mouth? Sonnie Bocala, founder of Apex Dental Sleep Lab, pulls back the curtain on what really happens inside the lab, why bite records matter more than devices, and how dentists can avoid the mistakes that lead to remakes, broken appliances, and poor outcomes.\nWhat We Discuss with Sonnie Bocala\nThe Bite Problem in Dental Sleep Medicine: Why the bite is the hardest and most important part of oral appliance therapy and why devices are just the delivery mechanism.\nWhy Most Appliances Fail Upstream: How poor bite records, bad workflows, and misaligned expectations lead to remakes and clinical failures.\nDevices Are Not Widgets: Why dentists obsess over shiny appliances instead of patient-specific biomechanics and airway positioning.\nThe DSM Learning Curve: Why dentists get lost after CE and how to stage your entry into dental sleep medicine without blowing up your practice.\nLab as a Clinical Partner: How labs can act as an extension of the practice and why experienced partners see more cases than any clinician ever will.\nScanning and AI Pitfalls: How digital impressions can introduce hidden errors and why more data beats faster scans.\n3D Printing and In-Office Manufacturing: How to safely print appliances in-house and why FDA-validated workflows matter.\nThe Future of Airway and Orthodontics: Combining aligners and sleep appliances to maintain airway while moving teeth.\nChoosing the Right Device: How Apex evaluates materials, manufacturing, company ethos, and long-term product viability before recommending devices.\nAnd much more.\nEpisode Summary\nDental sleep medicine has never had more devices, more courses, or more technology. Yet outcomes still hinge on one overlooked factor: the bite.\nIn this episode, Sonnie Bocala, founder of Apex Dental Sleep Lab, shares 26 years of lab-side insight into what actually makes oral appliance therapy succeed or fail. He explains why dentists get lost after CE, why...","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}