A weekly podcast for dental hygienists ready to expand beyond the prophy. Airway, myofunctional therapy, and one practical tool you can use at your next recall — every Tuesday with Kirsten Trevisonn, RDH.
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The Airway RDH is a weekly podcast for dental hygienists who are ready to expand beyond the prophy.
Hosted by Kirsten Trevisonn — registered dental hygienist, certified myofunctional therapist, and founder of Optimized Airway Education — each 12–15 minute episode gives you one practical, clinical tool you can use at your very next recall appointment.
You'll learn how to screen for airway issues in under 90 seconds, how to talk to patients and parents about tongue tie and mouth breathing without sounding alarmist, how to bring myofunctional therapy into your operatory, and how to build a more sustainable, higher-impact, better-paid career as a hygienist.
New episodes every Tuesday. Whether you're a brand-new grad or 20 years into the chair, this is the show that meets you where you are and helps you become the kind of clinician you trained to be.
Tired of seeing your beautiful aligner cases relapse or require endless refinements? The missing variable is almost always the tongue, as its force can undo all your hard work. I'll explain why 30 to 70 percent of orthodontic cases relapse within ten years and how pairing myofunctional therapy with your aligners acts as a 'retention insurance policy' for more stable, long-lasting results. From my Sept 23 virtual session, Airway & Myo for the Aligner Practice. Watch the full recording: opt...
2 Oct 2026
The 90-Second Screen & The Tied Tongue
Ready to take action in your practice? This episode gives you a practical, 90-second screening protocol you can use in any appointment to identify potential airway issues without adding time to the clock. We'll also do a deep dive into tongue ties—how to spot them, what functional red flags to look for, and when a frenectomy referral is the right next step. From my Sept 23 virtual session, Airway & Myo for the Aligner Practice. Watch the full recording: optimizedairway.com/replay
1 Oct 2026
From Findings to a Plan: The Myo Treatment Planner
Findings on paper don't change habits. A plan does. In Episode 7, Kirsten introduces the Myo Treatment Planner: enter your assessment findings and get a phased myofunctional plan, session schedule, chart note, patient handout and referral letter drafts in minutes. She explains how the protocol works (tie-release sequencing, a 16-session maximum, a daily retention package), where it fits alongside clear aligners, fixed and functional appliances, who can use it, and how access works: free for O...
24 Sept 2026
The 4 Functions: Spotting Airway Issues in the Dental Chair
Ever wonder why some patients have chronic gingivitis or recurrent caries with no clear hygiene reason? In this episode, I connect the dots between common dental findings and the four crucial orofacial functions that build the airway. Learn the early clues of airway dysfunction you're likely already seeing and how they shape your patients' growth and overall health. From my Sept 23 virtual session, Airway & Myo for the Aligner Practice. Watch the full recording: optimizedairway.com/replay
16 Sept 2026
The 90-Second Airway Screen
Most airway red flags are visible in the chair before the patient ever mentions them — if you know where to look. In Episode 6, Kirsten walks through the five-check screen she uses at every recall, explains what each finding means (and doesn't mean), and shares scope-safe language that turns a hygienist's observation into a useful clinical conversation with the doctor. Plus: how to document so the chart note becomes a referral-ready record. In this episode: (00:00) The patient who said "I sle...
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