In this episode, the co-hosts take a step back and tell you who they are, how they got here, and why Sleep Matters.
Jason's path into dental sleep started nearly 20 years ago at a large dental lab. Early demand for snore devices sent him down a rabbit hole that never ended — device inventors, sleep labs, key opinion leaders, CE courses, software, publishing, and eventually Transform Dental Sleep, an annual meeting built around one core idea: practical education that actually works in the real world.
Erin's story is even better. From Orange County to Houghton College to Creighton Dental School to a practice in Post Falls, Idaho — she heard a sleep physician and Dr. Jamison Spencer speak at the Idaho State Dental meeting and it clicked. Even after a consultant told her "this doesn't work," she pushed forward. She figured out medical billing, built sleep into her practice from the ground up, and eventually started teaching other dentists how to do the same.
This episode sets the tone for everything the show is building: honest stories, real implementation, and a simple filter applied to every conversation — So what? Now what?
What's on the Menu
- Who they are and how they got here — Jason's path through dental labs, devices, and education; Erin's path through dental school and a practice in Idaho
- Why sleep matters — Drowsy driving, sleep deprivation, and why this field is bigger than most dentists realize
- Transform Dental Sleep — What it is, why Jason built it, and what makes it different
- Erin's lightbulb moment — The state dental meeting that changed her dental career
- Real-world implementation — Medical billing, home sleep testing, physician relationships, and making it work in an actual practice
- The "So what? Now what?" framework — The filter Jason and Erin apply to every guest and topic on the show
- Building a career worth having — Why dental sleep medicine can make dentistry more rewarding and more sustainable
Clinical Concepts & Terminology
- Dental Sleep Medicine — The area of care where dentists help identify and manage sleep-related breathing concerns through screening, education, devices, and collaboration with physicians. This is the world both hosts have built their careers around.
- Sleep Apnea — The central clinical issue that pulled both Erin and Jason deeper into the sleep world and the condition driving most of the work dentists can do in this space.
- Oral Sleep Appliances — Jason walks through early experience with devices like TAP and EMA and explains how these tools introduced many dentists to sleep-related care long before it became mainstream.
- Home Sleep Testing — Erin's practice invested early in a home sleep test unit. She explains how it became a key part of building a real sleep workflow rather than just referring patients out.
- Medical Billing — One of the biggest implementation hurdles in dental sleep, and one of the first things Erin figured out in her own practice and later built into her two-day course for other dentists.
- CE and Practical Education — Both hosts push hard for education that skips the theory and hands dentists something they can actually use on Monday morning.
Professional Organizations & Collaboration
- Transform Dental Sleep — Jason's annual meeting focused on bringing experienced, practical, and engaging voices in dental sleep medicine together for education that moves the needle.
- Post Falls Family Dental — Erin's practice in Idaho, where she proved the concept in a real clinical setting before ever teaching it to anyone else.
- Idaho State Dental Meeting — Where Erin first heard Jamison Spencer and a sleep physician speak, setting off a chain of events that reshaped her entire career.
- Dental Sleep Community — The educators, clinicians, vendors, physicians, and colleagues across the industry who have helped shape both hosts' paths — and who show up throughout the show.
The Big Idea
Sleep affects nearly everything. And dentists have a real shot at being part of the solution.
That's the premise behind Sleep Matters, and it's what this episode is really about. Jason came to dental sleep through labs, devices, and education. Erin came through clinical practice and figuring it out in real time. Different paths, same destination: this work matters, and most dentists are still leaving it on the table.
Sleep Matters isn't here for abstract ideas or academic conversations. It's here to give listeners the so what and the now what — every episode, every guest, every topic. Knowing something is interesting is fine. Knowing what to do with it is the whole point.
What is Sleep Matters Podcast?
Sleep Matters is a mocktail of snarky honesty and straight talk in dental sleep medicine you’ve been looking for.
We jump on the grenades most professionals avoid, from medical and dental turf wars and insurance headaches to calling out the latest industry “snake oil.”
Sit down with movers, shakers, and iconoclasts as we dive into the clinical and political issues that keep dentists up at night.
You’ll learn.
You’ll laugh.
And you’ll actually look forward to the next episode.
SLEEP MATTERS