Sleep Balance Academy
“Dedicated to solving the crisis of undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea by balancing and improving the traditional quality of care standard with a well trained team of allied health professionals.”
The Dental Chiropractic Sleep Apnea Collaborative
Sleep Balance Academy (SBA) is a professional dental, functional medicine, and chiropractic service dedicated to the education and welfare of our patients who may be affected by snoring and sleep disorders. For far too long, undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea has decimated our country and our economy through lack of knowledge of its fundamental role in health. The first, most important function of the body is its ability to breathe. It is our most pressing nutrient, and right now, 70-80 million US adults and children are suffocating to death and being treated for symptoms of this disease rather than the root causes of the disease.
Dr. Richard Downs, Dr. Shane Smith, and Dr. Joseph Zelk have developed the SBA to build a cross-referral team approach to patient treatment between the professions of functional medicine, myofunctional therapy, nurse practitioners, dental hygienists, wellness centers, chiropractic, and dentistry. The strategic partners they have affiliated with will allow for Dental-Chiropractic Alliances to work with durable medical equipment centers, dental sleep labs, medical sleep centers, and innovative medical billing experts with an emphasis on treatment of sleep-disordered breathing.
SBA supports this relationship in many ways starting with our educational seminars, ongoing in-office support, social media campaigns, and mentoring from professionals trained in this level of care. SBA also keeps its members up to date on the latest advances in effective treatment and effective billing solutions on behalf of the doctors for their patients.
SBA helps Dentists and Chiropractors to:
Recognize which sleep disorders can be treated with oral sleep appliances (OSA), negative pressure airway devices, nasal and oral airway expansion, myofunctional TENS stimulators, laser palatal treatments, orthodontics, nasal dilators and rinses, electronic tongue toning devices, sleep apnea testing and telehealth services, remote patient monitoring, and EPAP therapies.
Education in the recognition of services for chiropractic care for the medical co-morbidities of sleep apnea, the different types and uses of oral appliances, screening for sleep disorders, and interpret (PSG) polysomnogram and (HST) home sleep studies. Treatments that chiropractors can perform are also taught.
Administer home sleep studies (HST) and work closely with a patient's physician or specialists in Somnology to achieve the most effective treatment for a patient.
Manage the dental and medical issues that uniquely accompany sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD) and their impact on teeth, gums, soft palate, tongue, joints, head, neck, spine, jaws, heart, blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, mental health, weight gain, stroke, and general health.
Help Chiropractors navigate the application process to become DME providers of prosthesis in general and the special rules for DME in Medicare.
Dentists are qualified to fabricate, adjust, fit, monitor, and treat problems and complications associated with oral appliances which are used to manage sleep-related breathing disorders; however, chiropractors can make and deliver them as well working closely with dentists. They can also implement EPAP therapy, myofunctional TENS devices, and negative pressure devices with the help of prescriptions Dr. Zelk and others can provide for you online.
Dentists and chiropractors can also treat children in ways that can prevent a lifetime of compromised airways by helping spine and face bones grow properly through chiropractic, orthopedic, and orthodontic care.
Chiropractors can treat the posture problems, temporomandibular joint pathologies, muscle pain, forward head posture, and morning headaches associated with sleep disorders non-evasively, and much more. Often, chiropractic adjustments should be done before a dentist takes an impression for an oral appliance. They can dispense and monitor face growth devices such as Myomunchee to promote facial symmetry and airway development. They are uniquely positioned to screen patients for sleep disorders to help improve parasympathetic function and other chiropractic outcomes, total wellness and weight loss programs and for referral to dentists and other health care professionals for oral appliance therapies and can fit and dispense CPAP and EPAP devices for those who may not be able to use oral sleep appliances.
And there is one more thing we can do that no one has done, as mentioned above, and that is we can train you to custom-make and seat oral snore devices and sleep appliances if you have a desire to do that instead of employing a dentist to work in your office.
In some instances, we can handle all of the billing and pre-authorization work for you while maximizing the medical insurance benefits for your patients to minimize their out-of-pocket expenses by automating this billing service to their Medicare and medical insurance carriers. For those wanting to do their own medical billing, we have office medical billing coaching programs and seminars, both online and at various locations.
We know many chiropractors and dentists are privately paid and insurance-independent. This program is ideal for those practices as well.
We provide your dental or chiropractic office with home sleep studies, high sensitivity FDA approved pulse oximeters, Night Balance side sleep trainers and position monitor wearables, MD prescriptions, referrals and letters of medical necessities. We can supply you with "Freedom of Choice" form examples for those who are Medicare providers to keep you in compliance with Medicare rules when doing cross referrals.
We can explain how chiropractors and dentists can set up their own airway sleep diagnostic services company should there be state limits on what they can do in this area under their professional license.
Please contact us with any questions. Many more answers to challenges and implementation strategies are available through SBA. Just ask by clicking here. We are ready to help.