DOME360 : A Workshop on Breathing Health & Craniofacial Development

Feb 14

Innovation rarely happens inside a single specialty. It tends to happen at the edges, where disciplines overlap, where data meets anatomy and physiology, and where clinicians rethink what has always been “separate.”

At the Levan Center of Innovation on Jan. 28th, 2026, we hosted our first dedicated NSU workshop on sleep breathing health and craniofacial development for trainees.

The Levan Center of Innovation Orbit Room where we held DOME360, an event on sleep breathing health and craniofacial development — Dr. Maria Mora speaking on
SDB Airway Analysis

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) remains an under-recognized driver of systemic disease, cognitive performance decline, behavioral challenge, and long-term cardiometabolic risk. Dentistry sits in a uniquely powerful position in this space. Dental providers see patients regularly, examine airway-adjacent anatomy routinely, and have interventions that change structural and functional outcomes.

Each specialty contributes a different layer of the solution stack.

Pediatric dentists can influence intranasal dynamics early through maxillary expansion. Periodontists help stabilize bone biology and oral ecosystem health. Orthodontists guide developmental trajectories or coordinate surgical transitions. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons with proper training can address the full structural spectrum of sleep apnea surgery. Dental hygienists, many trained in myofunctional therapy, are often the earliest to identify dysfunctional breathing patterns.

Yet most dental training programs still treat sleep breathing and its craniofacial influence as peripheral knowledge. That gap represents one of the biggest opportunities in health care today.

DOME360 is designed to accelerate this shift.

DOME360 started as a small resident workshop at the start of the new year. Within weeks, it expanded into a multi-national and multi-department event. We are indebted to our faculty, many of whom volunteered and traveled internationally. We are also thankful of ODL, the DOME course, and Sarah Kellman.

DOME360 brought together an international, multidisciplinary faculty spanning sleep medicine, orthodontics, imaging, surgical strategy, functional therapy, and digital design. The conversations moved quickly from “what we know” to “what we can build next.”

Sleep physician Dr. Lilliana Estrada of Costa Rica translated core sleep medicine into practical frameworks for dental providers. Dr. Josefina Vazquez (NSU) demonstrated how functional orthodontics and myofunctional therapy are reshaping treatment planning. Dr. Maria Mora (NSU) shared airway-focused CBCT interpretation, highlighting how much signal already exists in routine maxillofacial imaging. Dr. Nasim Mesgarzadeh shared how surgical strategy with A.I. will reshape risk prediction, planning, and outcome tracking. Dr. Claudia Pinter of Vienna anchored adult maxillary expansion with a non-diastema approach using skeletal expanders with aligner co-management. This is a model that aligns structural efficiency with patient-centered esthetic needs. We especially thank Dr. Pinter for her ongoing support of the NSU Department of Orthodontics.

In the afternoon, we shifted to the Pitch Room. The focus moved from structure to function, and to system-level thinking.

At the North Star Pitch Room. Olivia Lallouz, CCC-SLP “The Upper Airway is Muscle” (implicated in SDB)

Olivia Lallouz, CCC-SLP and PhD candidate of our prestigious ALS center shared a critical truth: structure without function is incomplete medicine. Dr. Jenna Schwibner showed inspiring cases of early interventions changing lifetime trajectories. Dr. Aura Manfio of Toronto showed how interventions for breathing and esthetics are no longer competing priorities in orthodontic and orthognathic care. Our NSU Digital Dentistry Center with Dr. Ivan Sanchez and Dr. Gladys Uzcategui (NSU) demonstrated how cost, access, and precision can be improved simultaneously with the latest in CAD-CAM design and 3D printing.

During my presentation, including a live patient testimonial one day after a minimally invasive, guided DOME procedure with a no-diastema approach, I shared the two principles that continue to guide my work:

Restoring sleep breathing health is a gateway to wellness.

Innovation in sleep breathing care comes by integration.

DOME360 represents an integration across multiple axes: dentistry and medicine, structural and functional therapies, foundational biology and advanced technology, and clinical care and data infrastructure.

Most importantly, it represents investment in the next generation. The trainees at NSU Health will lead airway-centered dental and craniofacial medicine.