The DOC Podcast

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Funke Afolabi Brown, a triple board-certified sleep physician, founder of Restful Sleep MD, and best-selling author. We go way beyond the basics of sleep, exploring what "good sleep" actually means, why sleep medicine gets so little attention in physician and dental training, and why that has to change.
Dr. Brown and I dig into the full spectrum of sleep-disordered breathing (it's so much more than just obstructive sleep apnea), the strengths and serious limitations of polysomnography versus home sleep testing, and why relying only on the AHI can cause us to miss patients who are genuinely struggling. We also spend a lot of time on the far-reaching effects of poor sleep in kids - behavior, learning, emotional regulation, and how sleep issues so often masquerade as ADHD.
We talk candidly about why snoring and chronic mouth breathing should never be treated as "no big deal," why interdisciplinary collaboration between sleep physicians, pediatricians, ENTs, dentists, orthodontists, and myofunctional therapists is essential, and why I'm genuinely optimistic about where sleep medicine is headed.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 — Cold open: sleep's impact on children isn't benign
0:38 — Podcast welcome
1:02 — Guest introduction: Dr. Funke Afolabi Brown
4:20 — Interview begins
5:39 — Dr. Brown's background and path into sleep medicine
7:13 — Sleep education gaps in medical/dental training
10:19 — Defining good sleep: quantity, quality, timing
14:42 — Wearables, sleep tracking, and orthosomnia
20:24 — Acute vs. chronic sleep problems and recovery
26:52 — In-lab polysomnography: strengths and limitations
37:28 — The sleep-disordered breathing spectrum
41:10 — Primary snoring: why it's never normal
46:14 — Allergies, nasal airway, and root causes
48:12 — Chronic mouth breathing debate
54:23 — Why physicians and dentists avoid the topic
1:00:10 — ADHD and sleep-disordered breathing overlap
1:08:57 — Home sleep testing and treatment options
1:09:48 — The future of sleep medicine
1:16:00 — Closing thoughts and where to find Dr. Brown
If you found this conversation valuable, please share this episode with someone who needs to hear it, follow DOC Podcast on Instagram, and subscribe to the channel on YouTube so you never miss an episode.
LINKS
Connect w/Dr. Brown:
Website: https://www.restfulsleepmd.com/
Beyond Tired Book: https://a.co/d/2aSRSQt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/restfulsleepmd/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drfunkebrown/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/funke.afolabibrown/ 
Register for the In-person Early Treatment Comprehensive: https://www.earlyorthotreatment.com/ 
The Generational Wealth Code: https://a.co/d/05TlkLJX
Join The DOC Community on Facebook for more great content and discussions: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1Cb9rkQVde/
Check out the DOC CE Courses: https://theorthocoach.com/ce-courses/
Website: theorthocoach.com
YouTube: @theorthocoach
Instagram: @theorthocoach
Email: drmike@theorthocoach.com

In this episode, I sit down again with Christine Vento Conway, Senior Vice President at Inland Securities, to dig into the real estate side of building generational wealth. We pick up where we left off with her family, this time focusing specifically on how real estate's tax advantages (1031 exchanges, DSTs, depreciation, and Qualified Opportunity Zones) can help investors defer, reduce, and even eliminate capital gains taxes.
Christine breaks down the numbers, walks through real timelines and rules, and we compare these strategies to REITs so you know exactly which tool fits your situation. Whether you're a seasoned real estate investor or just getting started, this conversation will give you a clear framework for thinking about real estate as a tax strategy, not just an asset class.
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Introduction and catching up with Christine
3:59 – Christine's role at Inland Securities and her CPA background
10:59 – The four key benefits of real estate as an investment vehicle
14:02 – Duplex vs. institutional real estate: diversification and risk
18:57 – Breaking down the tax consequences of selling a property
36:36 – The 1031 exchange timeline: the 45-day and 180-day rules
37:28 – What a qualified intermediary does (and why you need one)
49:20 – The three phases of a DST investment
56:32 – How DST income and distributions are taxed
1:12:13 – DSTs vs. REITs: what's the difference?
1:15:24 – Qualified Opportunity Zones and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
1:27:41 – Who qualifies: accredited investor requirements and minimums
1:29:17 – How to get in touch with Christine
If this conversation gave you a new way of thinking about real estate, please don't keep it to yourself.  Send this episode to your financial advisor or CPA, since many of them aren't familiar with DSTs. Pick up a copy of *The Generational Wealth Code* to go even deeper, and if you want to explore these strategies for your own portfolio, reach out to Christine directly at conway@inland-securities.com. And if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could benefit from a smarter approach to real estate and taxes.
LINKS
Purchase The Generational Wealth Code: https://a.co/d/0cye2Lqu 
Email Christine: conway@inland-securities.com 
Call Christine: 917-410-7725
First Episode w/Vento Family: 
Second Episode w/John Vento Sr: 
Register for the In-person Early Treatment Comprehensive: https://www.earlyorthotreatment.com/ 
Join The DOC Community on Facebook for more great content and discussions: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1Cb9rkQVde/
Check out the DOC CE Courses: https://theorthocoach.com/ce-courses/
Website: theorthocoach.com
YouTube: @theorthocoach
Email: drmike@theorthocoach.com
Instagram: @theorthocoach

Overview
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Peter Catalano - an otolaryngologist, rhinology fellowship director, and pioneer of minimally invasive nasal surgery. Dr. Catalano has held appointments at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the Lahey Clinic, and Tufts University, and has spent over three decades developing and publishing on targeted nasal airway surgery. I've had the privilege of working with Dr. Catalano on a major article addressing mouth breathing, and our conversation here is one of the most important I've had on this platform.
We go deep into the science of nasal airflow, the structural and institutional barriers preventing children from getting the care they need, and the very real consequences (neurological, behavioral, cardiovascular, and craniofacial) of untreated mouth breathing and sleep-disordered breathing. We also address the myths and dogmas that continue to persist in both the ENT and orthodontic worlds, and what it's going to take to break them down.
If you've ever wondered why the two worlds of dentistry and medicine remain so siloed on this issue, or what it means for patients when they fall through the crack, this episode is for you.
Timestamps
0:00 – Introduction and Dr. Catalano's background: ENT, skull base surgery, academic appointments at Mount Sinai, Lahey Clinic, and Tufts University
4:10 – How Dr. Catalano's career trajectory led him from engineering to medicine to rhinology — and the philosophy of fate and the "hidden angel" guiding his path
9:12 – The MicroShaver revolution: meeting Dr. Setliff in South Dakota and the aha moment that changed everything about minimally invasive sinus surgery
11:13 – The unexpected discovery: patients reporting they stopped snoring after sinus surgery, and how that led to a focus on nasal airway and sleep-disordered breathing
13:18 – [Ad] Early Orthodontic Treatment Comprehensive — a two-day hands-on immersive course with Dr. Daniel Camacho, Fort Lauderdale, FL, November 13–14. Click the link in the show notes to register.
14:27 – The 2009 Singapore breakthrough: Dr. Deyun Wang and computational flow dynamics — why no one actually knew how air moved through the nose until then
19:32 – Why previous nasal surgeries failed for OSA, and what "follow the airflow" means for surgical targets between the eyes
20:30 – Why making big holes in sinuses made things worse — and why the sinuses don't actually ventilate during breathing
23:58 – How the superior airway and structures like the uncinate process and concha bullosa became key surgical targets, producing a 15–20% improvement in airflow
26:08 – The insurance dilemma and medical-legal risks that prevent ENTs from performing airway surgery — even when the data is clear
30:03 – The ferret studies and the "never operate under 16" dogma: how flawed 1980s animal models became entrenched standard of care for pediatric ENT surgery
35:48 – Parallels to hormone replacement therapy and the rampant hypocrisy in academic medicine — how good studies get buried and bad ones persist
40:55 – How Dr. Catalano fought back against an insurance company, changed their pediatric sinus surgery policy, and survived multiple attempts to have his medical license revoked
47:12 – The Harvold monkey studies: why the obligate nasal breather argument is wrong, why the studies are foundational, and what it means that no one could repeat them today
58:07 – Children don't just "outgrow" airway obstruction: why the lymphoid involution argument is true but dangerously misleading when 90% of craniofacial growth is complete by age 8
1:13:57 – CBCT in ENT and orthodontic practice: why orthodontists need to learn to read the full image, how Dr. Catalano and Dr. John Walker found hidden tumors, and why rhinology-focused ENTs already use equivalent imaging
1:17:33 – Nocturnal enuresis and airway: the pituitary/ADH connection, why these children ask about bedwetting the moment they wake from surgery, and the anecdotal but compelling clinical evidence
1:27:15 – Swell body reduction: how a novel procedure Dr. Catalano pioneered in 2015 went from being met with rotten tomatoes at conferences to becoming standard of care
Closing
If this conversation resonated with you, I want to encourage you to share it with your colleagues, your dental and medical partners, and anyone who works with young patients who struggle to breathe. This is exactly the kind of interdisciplinary dialogue that can change outcomes for kids who are being told to wait it out.
LINKS
Dr. Peter Catalano: Email: catalanop9@gmail.com
AJODO Article on Mouth Breathing: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40057896/
Join The DOC Community on Facebook for more great content and discussions (https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1Cb9rkQVde/)
Register for the In-person Early Treatment Comprehensive: https://www.earlyorthotreatment.com/ 
Join The DOC Community on Facebook for more great content and discussions: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1Cb9rkQVde/
Check out the DOC CE Courses: https://theorthocoach.com/ce-courses/
Website: theorthocoach.com
YouTube: @theorthocoach
Email: drmike@theorthocoach.com
Instagram: @theorthocoach

In this episode, I sit down with a truly inspiring father-daughter team - Dr. Victor Avis, a recently retired general dentist and orthodontist of 38 years, and his daughter Sydney Avis, co-founders of the Airway Revolution Foundation. What begins as a deeply personal story about Sydney's lifelong, undiagnosed struggle with airway and sleep disorders quickly evolves into a powerful conversation about the systemic gaps in how medicine and dentistry recognize and treat airway-related health issues. From Sydney's childhood as a chronic mouth breather to her life-changing double jaw surgery in 2020, and from Dr. Avis' discovery of the Mews and orthotropics to the launch of a nonprofit digital learning platform, this episode is packed with insight, honesty, and a whole lot of heart.
Timestamps
0:00 — Introduction & welcome
0:23 — About today's guests: Dr. Victor Avis & Sydney Avis, co-founders of the Airway Revolution Foundation
3:16 — Dr. Avis frames the conversation: what it's like to see patients transform through airway treatment, and why he didn't see it in his own daughter
7:19 — Sydney begins her story: growing up without knowing something was wrong
8:21 — Dr. Avis reflects: he didn't know mouth breathing wasn't normal, even watching home videos; the missed opportunity at age 6
10:43 — School struggles begin: from A student to C student despite extraordinary effort; asthma, inhalers, and cavities nobody connected to airway
15:25 — Sydney's growing anxiety: first panic attack at prom; daily panic attacks escalating through her gap year
15:57 — The breaking point: a 3 AM call from Thailand - Sydney in the hospital getting a brain scan
20:29 — Dr. Avis discovers John Mew on YouTube; two weeks later he's in England studying orthotropics
22:19 — Presenting Sydney's case to Bill Hang's study group: the recommendation for double jaw surgery, and Sydney's immediate answer: "Okay, let's do it"
24:13 — The pre-surgery journey: sleep studies, DICE with Dr. Soroush Zaghi, MADs, CPAP, nothing helps; surgery delayed by COVID
31:11 — Sydney shares life after surgery: REM rebound, finally feeling rested, and the lifting of the "fog"
52:37 — Why they founded the Airway Revolution Foundation and built a free digital learning platform for parents, educators, and adults
1:12:28 — Lessons from trying to change doctoral education and lobbying Capitol Hill and why they ultimately decided to go directly to the public
1:22:51 — The danger of anti-airway commentary; 50–60% of kids on ADHD medications may have an undiagnosed sleep disorder; how to connect with the Foundation
Closing
Dr. Victor and Sydney Avis are doing something rare - turning personal pain into a movement that has the potential to change millions of lives. If their story resonates with you, visit airwayrevolution.org and follow @theairwayrevolution on social media to stay connected as their digital learning platform launches this fall.
LINKS
Airwayrevolution.org
Connect w/the Avis' on Social Media: @theairwayrevolution   
Register for the In-person Early Treatment Comprehensive: https://www.earlyorthotreatment.com/ 
Join The DOC Community on Facebook for more great content and discussions: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1Cb9rkQVde/
Check out the DOC CE Courses: https://theorthocoach.com/ce-courses/
Website: theorthocoach.com
YouTube: @theorthocoach
Email: drmike@theorthocoach.com
Instagram: @theorthocoach

In this episode, I'm joined for the second time by Dr. Shereen Lim, an internationally recognized dentist whose work is reshaping how we think about oral tethered tissues and their role in craniofacial growth, airway health, and orthodontic outcomes. Since her first appearance on the show (Episode 34 - link below), Dr. Lim has pushed even further beyond tongue ties, focusing her clinical lens on lip ties, buccal frenum ties, and their profound influence on facial development, maxillary arch constriction, dental crowding, and orthodontic relapse. 
This conversation is a masterclass in staying intellectually curious, remaining open to what the evidence in your own practice is telling you, and constantly reassessing your diagnosis and treatment approach as new information emerges.
Timestamps
0:00 – Introduction & episode overview
3:12 – Welcome back: Dr. Lim returns to The DOC Podcast
4:43 – Beyond tongue ties: Dr. Lim's evolving focus on lip and cheek (buccal) ties and their impact on latch, facial tension, and development
8:46 – The lower lip tie discovery: how chin strain and mentalis tension led to a clinical breakthrough
9:55 – Buccal ties, orthodontic relapse, and how cheek tension shapes the dental arch
14:45 – Interdisciplinary collaboration: working with osteopaths, chiropractors, and lactation consultants
15:59 – The emotional weight of realizing what we've missed — and why blinders happen
19:01 – Case study: the patient with severe malocclusion and the tightest cheek ties Dr. Lim has ever seen
22:03 – My talk on why orthodontists resist airway-focused care — and granting colleagues grace
25:44 – Tongue ties without transverse deficiency: how cheek ties may explain the variation
27:36 – V-shaped arches, orthodontic relapse, and the role of perioral restrictions
29:39 – Historical perspective: the Frenkel appliance, lip bumpers, and treating the etiology
33:03 – How to assess what's normal vs. abnormal: signs to look for across infancy, childhood, and adulthood
36:41 – The procedure: CO2 laser technique, team-based approach, and what to expect after releases
39:10 – When outcomes fall short — and why proper pre/post care changes everything
41:34 – A remarkable case: releasing ties in an infant with Down syndrome against specialist advice
44:19 – Challenging the 2020 AAO-HNS consensus statement and the misuse of evidence-based medicine
46:53 – The real value of clinical observation and patient-reported outcomes
50:19 – Pushback on social media vs. trust within the clinical community
52:10 – Functional trainer appliances (Myobrace, Vivos, 2Pill): where they help and where they fall short
56:18 – Post-release comfort: why oral releases may make functional appliances easier to tolerate
57:54 – The journey approach: doing one thing at a time and building confidence incrementally
1:00:46 – Vestibuloplasty technique: releasing multiple sites together for better outcomes
1:03:46 – A message to overwhelmed clinicians: you don't have to do it all at once
1:06:32 – Evidence-based practice in action: what Dr. Lim is actually doing in her clinic
1:07:09 – Where to find Dr. Lim & closing thoughts
This conversation reminded me of why I do this work. Dr. Lim's willingness to look critically at her own outcomes, stay open to what her patients are showing her, and continuously evolve her clinical approach is a model for all of us. Whether you're brand new to airway-focused dentistry or have been in this space for years, I hope this episode leaves you a little more curious, a little more humble, and motivated to ask whether there's a better way to serve the children and families we care for.
LINKS
Episode 34 w/Dr. Lim: LINK
Dr Lim’s Book: Breathe, Sleep, Thrive
Dr. Lim’s Website: https://www.drshereenlim.com.au/
Dr. Lim’s IG: @dr.shereenlim
Dr. Lim on FB: LINK
Register for the In-person Early Treatment Comprehensive: https://www.earlyorthotreatment.com/ 
Join The DOC Community on Facebook for more great content and discussions: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1Cb9rkQVde/
Check out the DOC CE Courses: https://theorthocoach.com/ce-courses/
Website: theorthocoach.com
YouTube: @theorthocoach
Instagram: @theorthocoach
Email: drmike@theorthocoach.com