Experts sheds light on the need for more dental sleep education, but also greater accountability for current practitioners
Dr. Jerry Hu, founder of Nevada Dental Sleep, recently appeared on the Dentists In the Know (DINKs) podcast’s Humpday Happy Hour segment. In the episode, host Dr. Jeff Horowitz, a fellow dentist, asked Hu about his early days in practice, and dove into how Hu became a world-class authority and lecturer on the subject of dental sleep medicine.
Born in Taiwan, Hu grew up in Alaska, where he still runs a practice today. His expansion into the Las Vegas market was driven by his desire to increase awareness about sleep apnea, the dangers of CPAP machine treatment, and to promote dental sleep medicine best practices in the Silver State.
“The first thing I do as a dentist is ask myself ‘what can I do for my patient’s chief concern?’” Hu said on the show, while adding that a dentist can and should play a part in supporting a patient’s health beyond basic dental care. “You also need to get that conversation going about overall health, their medical history, prescriptions, past surgeries, it’s all so important.”
On the podcast, Hu revealed how his curiosity about dental sleep medicine was peeked after working with patients who damaged dental implants because of bruxism, or teeth grinding during sleep. As he furthered his education on the subject, he became well-known for his comprehensive approaches to correcting airway concerns for sleep apnea and other sleep disturbances. Hu himself even lost more than 100 pounds after addressing his own sleep apnea.
Hu and Horowitz also discussed the importance of being realistic with patients, and factoring in their financial situation, willingness to comply with long-term treatments, comorbidities and other factors, to assure realistic outcomes. In the podcast, Hu even candidly called out dentists who are primarily driven by sales.
“A lot of times, so many camps just want to make money, but this is about the Hippocratic oath we take,” he added. “Some oral appliance dentists, even veterans in the field, are more about how many appliances they can make in a month. … those people are harming the industry.”
To listen to the episode, visit https://www.dentistsintheknow.com/dr-jerry-hu-with-the-dinks/ or to learn more about Dr. Jerry Hu, go to NevadaDentalSleep.com.
