Dr. Audrey Yoon is a dual-trained orthodontist and pediatric dentist who specializes in sleep medicine. She has established World Dentofacial Sleep Society and serves as a founding president. She is also a diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine and a diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics.
She is currently a Clinical Professor of Stanford Sleep Medicine Center at Stanford University and an Assistant Professor in Orthodontics at University of Pacific. She founded Pacific Ortho-Dental Sleep Medicine Fellowship at University of Pacific and serves as a program director. She is a board of director at Edward H. Angle Society of Orthodontists, Northern California, a board of Director at California Sleep Society and International Board of Director at the Korean Association of Dental Sleep Medicine.
She completed her orthodontic and pediatric dentistry residencies at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). She also earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery and Master of Science degree, completing extensive research in Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) at UCLA.
She practices the full scope of non-surgical and surgical orthodontics from pediatric to geriatric population for airway management including growth modification, pediatric palatal expansion, customized Miniscrew-Assisted Rapid Palatal Expansion (MARPE), Distraction Osteogenesis Maxillary Expansion (DOME), Orthodontic treatment for Maxillomandibular Advancement ( MMA ), clear aligner therapy and oral appliances for sleep apnea.
Part 1: Find New Scientific Evidence from Everyday Practice: Dentist’s Role for Airway and Sleep Disorders
Most current dental treatments for sleep-disordered breathing focus on changing the anatomy to increase airway space. However, most dentists do not understand the mechanism of how anatomical changes affect the pathophysiology of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Dr Yoon will show her extensive research for a better understanding of the relationship between anatomical factors and the physiology of OSA. Dr Yoon will discuss early identification of the etiology and understanding the pathophysiology to prevent diseases. She will also discuss the orthodontic approach for modifying orofacial growth and development with the newest technique to achieve ideal skeletal structures and reprogram orofacial muscle function.
Part 2: Growth Modification Protocol: From Infant to Adult for Patients with Sleep Disordered Breathing
As knowledge of sleep medicine increases, it is critical dentists are equipped with the knowledge to help contribute to interdisciplinary care for pediatric patients with OSA. As our profession strives to bridge the gap between sleep surgery and dentistry, providers must have clinical guidelines to follow as patients grow and develop. Dentists can manipulate and guide craniofacial growth patterns depending on a patient’s age—therefore, it is important to understand which strategies can be used in conjunction with other providers to help create a team-based approach to care. With a dentist’s extensive knowledge of craniofacial growth and development stages, providers can take advantage of therapeutic appliances to make a substantial change in a patient’s growth pattern during maturity. As a child grows from infancy to adulthood, the dentition and craniofacial complex change with various growth patterns that can be intercepted and targeted at the right time.
Upon completion of this course, attendees should be able to:
Understand the dentist’s role in identifying airway disorders in everyday practice.
Understand the screening protocols and spectrum of available therapies.
Employ integrative and functional approaches to craniofacial structure modification.
Understand specific treatment options that can be offered from infancy to adulthood with sleep-disordered breathing.
Define why early diagnosis and treatment of sleep disordered breathing is imperative for children’s growth and development.
Understand the differential growth of each craniofacial structure.
Understand the selection and design of orthodontic appliances in the right place and at the right time.