Alan is once again joined by podcast veteran Dr. Matt Standridge to dissect the American Association of Orthodontists' (AAO) controversial 2026 white paper on sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and orthodontics. Together, they pull back the curtain on the document's surprising omissions—including a shrinking author panel that entirely removed sleep physicians—and critique its heavy, restrictive reliance on full polysomnography (PSG) as a gatekeeper for early pediatric intervention. Dr. Standridge highlights how the paper's narrow scope and questionable citations conflict with both well-established historical data and contemporary European medical guidelines, framing the white paper more as a defensive "CYA" document than a progressive guide for patient care. Some links from the show: Sleep-disordered Breathing and Orthodontics: An American Association of Orthodontists white paper update Matt Standridge's VERY thorough rebuttal Matt would like to thank some mentors/friends for the inspiration: Drs Mark Deluke, Audrey Yoon, Tracey Nguyen, Jeff Rouse, and Marianna Evans Join the Very Dental Facebook Group using one of these passwords: Timmerman, Paul, Bioclear, Hornbrook, Gary, McWethy, Papa Randy, Frank or Lipscomb! The Very Dental Podcast network is and will remain free to download. If you'd like to support the shows you love at Very Dental then show a little love to the people that support us! We're proud to be supported by the folks at Net32! I'm a big fan of the Bioclear Method! I think you should give it a try and I've got a great offer to help you get on board! Use the exclusive Very Dental Podcast code VERYDENTAL8TON for 15% OFF your total Bioclear purchase, including Core Anterior and Posterior Four day courses, Black Triangle Certification, and all Bioclear products. Crazy Dental has everything you need from cotton rolls to equipment and everything in between and the best prices you'll find anywhere! If you head over to verydentalpodcast.com/crazy and use coupon code "VERYSHIP" you'll get free shipping on your order! Go save yourself some money and support the show all at the same time! The Wonderist Agency is basically a one stop shop for marketing your practice and your brand. From logo redesign to a full service marketing plan, the folks at Wonderist have you covered! Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/wonderist! Enova Illumination makes the very best in loupes and headlights, including their new ergonomic angled prism loupes! They also distribute loupe mounted cameras and even the amazing line of Zumax microscopes! If you want to help out the podcast while upping your magnification and headlight game, you need to head over to verydentalpodcast.com/enova to see their whole line of products! CAD-Ray offers the best service on a wide variety of digital scanners, printers, mills and even their very own browser based design software, Clinux! CAD-Ray has been a huge supporter of the Very Dental Podcast Network and I can tell you that you'll get no better service on everything digital dentistry than the folks from CAD-Ray. Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/CADRay!

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related