More Than Teeth: Exploring Sleep Dentistry with Mike Bennett

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Welcome back to The Daily Mastermind. George Wright III here with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education—and I’ve got a treat for you today. We're really excited about the guest we have, Mike Bennett, who’s joining us on the podcast. How are you doing, Mike?

I'm doing really well and happy to be here.

Yeah, this is really good. I know we've been talking a bunch over the last little while, and I know you're heading on a trip out to Japan. But before we really get going, I want to do a quick introduction for those of you that are joining us.

First of all, if you haven’t yet, make sure you like and subscribe to the podcast. You don’t want to miss any of these amazing interviews we're doing—especially as we’re launching the Authority Formula Podcast in our joint venture with Valiant CEO Magazine, where Mike will also be a featured guest.

But let me give you his background real quick.

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Mike Bennett's Background and Journey

So, Mike Bennett—besides being a speaker, consultant, and dentist—is an expert and specialist in the area we’re going to talk about: sleep dentistry. He’s a DDS, PhD, board-certified dentist, and educator. And he’s passionate about more than just teeth.

It’s about helping people to breathe, sleep, and heal through airway-focused care. With a PhD in healthcare profession education, he really empowers dentists, clients, and the general public to understand the critical link between oral health and whole-body wellness, which is really unique.

I really love that extra full-body focus, because everyone knows here at the podcast, I’m all about mind, body, money, business, and lifestyle. But you have a mission to transform the lives of both dentists and individuals—is that right?

Oh, that’s so true. Yes, I do.

I want you to do me a favor and just give everyone that’s listening your backstory. Help us understand—because being a dentist is one thing—but moving into sleep dentistry, that’s been a journey for you. So give us a little bit of your background and what bridged you over into this whole specialty.

Okay, yeah, that’s a great question. I’ve pondered a lot about that, and I think it has a lot to do with my early days.

As a teenage 19-year-old, I served on a church service mission in New Zealand for a couple of years. While I was there, I noticed a lot of people had oral issues. We spoke to thousands of people over that period of time, and I don’t know—my eye was drawn a little bit to the mouth.

Before that experience, I had shadowed a dentist and got my feet wet a little bit. I should say, my hands wet.

Your hands wet—not really dental humor. It’s better when you’re under the influence of nitrous. It’s a lot better. Hey, we should be doing this podcast with a little…

No, that’s a good idea.

Okay, next time.

Next time.

But anyway, I came away from that experience feeling like I could improve the health of the world, at least in my little locality, by helping people with their oral health. So I came back and really got into the dental track and jumped right into that.

But along the way, I had these feelings of, “I want the whole body—I want to understand the whole body. I want to understand how it heals itself.” I was really torn between dental school and medical school. Even all the way through dental school—until my third year—I wasn’t completely sold on being a dentist.

And it was finally one day in my junior year—and I had two kids—and I thought, “I just need to graduate. I need to be a dentist and support my family.” But my heart was still thinking, “Can I go to medical school and do all those things?”

Long story short, I went into dentistry, didn’t realize what I didn’t know, and found out that as dentists, we are the experts in the oral area.

The oral cavity—the mouth—happens to be positioned right under the brain, under the nasal structures, and the throat/airway structures. Anything I do in the mouth can influence the way a person breathes. And what’s more important to the human body than air—than oxygen, right?

You only live three minutes without it, and if you don’t, you get brain damage and keep living. That’s not a good thing.

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The Importance of Sleep Dentistry

And so I realized, if I could somehow enhance the function of the human upper airway, then the body itself could be its own physician. It could work on itself, repair itself, heal itself. Because while we sleep, our bodies are healing—or at least they should be. And the body is amazingly resilient.

If we get poor sleep, we can do that year after year, decade after decade, and still somehow manage and not have a lot of chronic problems. But the reality is—it does catch up to us eventually. Poor sleep.

And so I was excited to realize that at some point.

One of the things that jumped out at me early on also was when I would do dental work in a person’s mouth, and they would come back five or six years later and say, “My crown’s broken.”

“That crown you put in—it’s broken.”

Now, how’d that happen? Did I not do a good enough job? Was my lab not good enough?

And of course, those were exactly the questions I was asking myself. Then I realized—wait a minute—if I’m doing a good job, which I felt I was, and my labs were top-notch as well, what’s going on in the body to create forces strong enough to break a really hard substance like zirconia or porcelain?

It turns out that if a person doesn’t breathe properly, they tend to exert heavy forces. They’ve measured them—up to 300 pounds per square inch—in the mouth. So it’s like a human man my size...

Wow.

...standing on a one-inch section of your mouth and expecting that crown not to break.

So wait—first of all, by the way, I had never thought about the idea that dental work was more than just “I gotta get my teeth maintained.” That’s a huge point. And I know you had a dental practice for a long period of time. It sounds like this was one of those pivot points, like a lot of people have, where they realize there’s actually more going on.

So I also didn’t realize it affected your dental work as well. So you were seeing people having issues coming back. Is that kind of when things transitioned—or... Help us understand. Because I know you had a practice, went into a specialty, and kind of came back. Is this what shifted you into the area of sleep dentistry?

It is.

Over those first 12 years of practice, I noticed all of these oral signs: worn-down teeth, broken teeth, lots of gum recession, periodontal disease, bone loss, sensitive teeth to hot/cold/sweets... all of those things—teeth in general just breaking down—were linked to chronic, poor sleep.

And the literature confirmed that—again and again. And I thought, wait a minute. If I just treat symptoms my whole career—one tooth at a time—how am I going to really help these people heal permanently and avoid problems in the future?

So that led from one thing to another—traveling the country and even outside the country looking for experts who knew what they were talking about. I met some wonderful people over the years.

Eventually, I came back and realized—it’s really hard to implement sleep treatment, screening, and management in a general practice. I didn’t really have a mentor to help me. I had some mentors, but I found that it was mostly on my shoulders. It was tough on the staff. So I thought—I’d better specialize.

So after 12 years, I specialized—then spent 10 years (so my 22nd year in practice) just doing full-time sleep disorders, chronic pain, headaches, jaw disorders, popping/clicking, TMJ-type things—and having an airway focus through all of that.

That’s how it morphed.

Wow, that’s interesting. And I want to point this out because in a featured article you did for Valiant CEO Magazine, you made this comment that dentistry isn’t just about teeth—it’s about total health.

Which I think is something everyone listening needs to realize—that sometimes the problems you have are the result of deeper causes, not just surface-level issues. It’s about more than just teeth when it comes to health. But also, this specific area of sleep.

And I want to point out something else—because I always try to do this when we have guests: I know we’re going to have both professionals and patients/families listening. There’s a principle here that I think you’ve really embodied. You were already very successful in your practice. You didn’t have to go out and learn more or specialize—but you did.

That’s what separates people. Whether it’s dentists or any other profession—you have people who just do their job, and others who go above and beyond. You zeroed in on this after seeing what was happening. But you were an early pioneer in this area, right? Was it weird for you—being one of the few doing it? Because sleep dentistry wasn’t even a “thing” yet.

I was early on, yes—but it had actually been around for a number of years. In the 1960s, they were already talking about it. It just didn’t reach the mainstream until—I’d say—the 1990s.

I graduated in ’99, and in the early 2000s, it really started to gain interest from dentists. But it’s really been in the last 10 years that this wave of interest has grown significantly.

So when you were learning early on, you were seeking out information and studying. Was it difficult for you to have conversations with your patients or even other dentists? Because if you had said that to me back then, I’d probably be like, “Huh?” Was it hard to talk about something you knew could make a real difference?

Yes, you just pointed out one of my weaknesses right there.

What’s that?

When I learn something and I’m excited about it, I just feel like I want to share it with the world. But not everybody is ready to listen—nor are they interested.

Some people are just like, “Just fix my teeth.”

Yeah—just, you’re a dentist. Worry about my teeth and gums. That’s all I want from you.

Exactly—and that’s totally fine.

There are times when I come back from a seminar, or I’ve been reading a book, and I’m excited about telling someone, “Hey, the signs I’m seeing in your mouth—those are risk factors for sleep. There’s a possible sleep disorder. Are you interested in being further screened to see if there’s a problem?”

There’s a significant stigma about sleep apnea out there—that only overweight people have it—and that is just not the case. That is a myth. One hundred percent.

So sometimes when I bring it up, it’s like I just called them a name or something.

Yeah, they take it personally.

Exactly. It’s like, “What? Look at me. I’m not overweight—I don’t have sleep apnea. I sleep great.”

But... your teeth are worn down. You have gum disease. You get cavities every time you come in. You’re flossing, brushing... but they still come.

So yeah, there’s definitely pushback—from all stakeholders out there. Patients. Parents of patients. Even the team. And other dentists, too. It’s like, “Just stay in your lane. Don’t look outside of it.”

There is some pressure. But...

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Real-Life Success Stories

I’ve just seen too many examples of success stories where people’s lives were changed. Can you give us a few examples—whether patients, dentists, or even health-related? What are some examples that really stuck with you?

Yeah—children especially are poignant, but adults as well. One child I worked with was a 9-year-old boy from out of state. He’d actually fly into Utah with his mom to get work done.

He wet the bed every night. He was being bullied at school. He smelled like urine all the time, and he couldn’t stop. He’s nine, for heaven’s sake. Nine years old and still bedwetting.

He was a recluse. Didn’t want to go out. Didn’t hang out with friends or socialize. He didn’t have a lot of energy.

His mom had heard about what I was doing to help grow the mouth—so there would be more room for the tongue and the airway in children. She sought me out.

We worked on him. We put him in a device, and in the first 30 days—just helping him breathe through his nose and open up his airway—he stopped bedwetting.

Really? Stopped bedwetting? And it was all because of his airway?

Yes, overall it was.

It’s the compensations the body goes through when the airway is pinched or compromised. For example, if you hold your breath, your heart starts pounding. Your blood pressure goes up. Your brain says, “Hey, get rid of this pressure,” so it tells your kidneys to dump it.

And if you’re a child, and you’re in bed, you’re going to pee out that pressure.

That’s crazy. It’s amazing she even noticed that. But I think—as you said—as more and more education and information become available online, people are starting to realize what I mentioned earlier: the results we see are not always caused by what we think.

Yep, absolutely.

And you don’t realize that when your body is in a state of fight-or-flight—survival mode—it reallocates energy to different parts of the body. It wants you to survive the night, even if you’re not breathing well.

So it’ll do things like empty your bladder. Or take energy away from your digestive system—so you’re not digesting your food well. You get more gas, bloating, constipation, or diarrhea.

And your mouth becomes dry from mouth breathing—so you get gum disease and cavities, because bacteria sticks to dry surfaces and causes problems.

Just like with most health issues—people are treating the symptoms, not the actual problem.

Yep.

Do you have another example? I know you mentioned adults as well. I would’ve never guessed bedwetting was that significant—but clearly, it changed his life.

Oh, absolutely. It did.

I called his mother a few months after we had finished treatment—about 15 months total—and she said, “It’s just amazing what my boy is doing.”

He’s out hanging with friends at the mall. He’s only on one medication now—he used to be on three: two for asthma and one for allergies. Now it’s just a bronchodilator as needed.

He’s a new person. A student leader in school. His mom is so excited. She always knew this boy was there—but he couldn’t sleep, because he couldn’t breathe. And he was having tissue issues and all kinds of problems.

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Treatment Options and Innovations

And before we wrap up, I want to dig into some of the treatments you do—but first, do you have any other examples?

Yeah—a couple.

A woman from Arizona came up and told me she had been fired from two jobs because of her chronic migraines. Just low energy. She’d wake up in the morning and say, “I can’t go to work,” and call in sick again.

Her employer worked with her for a while, but eventually said, “We’ve got to have someone we can count on.”

She heard I was doing migraine treatments and jaw treatments. She came to Utah, and we helped her. Turns out, she had undiagnosed sleep apnea.

We created a plan to help her establish better breathing so her sleep could improve. We also did some things to help her jaw and facial muscles.

Long story short: we reduced her migraines to where she only had one every few months. It didn’t go away completely—she had some other underlying issues—but it was significantly better.

And I’m sure in many cases it’s a team effort, right? You’re working with other doctors or specialists.

Yeah—absolutely. Other doctors. Chiropractors. Physical therapists. ENT specialists. Allergy doctors. Physicians. The list goes on. Even GI doctors.

It’s interesting—almost every medical specialty has some kind of connection. If your sleep is poor, the effects ripple through the entire body.

Wow. And that’s something I think a lot of our listeners—entrepreneurs, professionals, business owners—are dealing with. Migraines. Stress. Chronic overload.

And they don’t realize the ripple effect it’s having on their health.

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Common Symptoms and Self-Diagnosis

What are some of the more common symptoms people should look out for—especially if they’re not thinking “sleep disorder”? Are there signs people should be watching for?

Oh, definitely.

Beyond the mouth signs—like worn teeth, gum recession, and dry mouth—there are physical signs like bags under the eyes.

Let me pause and highlight this for our listeners: receding gums, bad teeth... those can actually be symptoms of sleep issues?

Yes.

And the tongue is a window to your airway. If you stick out your tongue in the mirror and see imprints from your teeth along the sides, it means your tongue doesn’t have enough room in the mouth.

So where does it go when your teeth are closed? Right back into your airway.

Oh—so your tongue is literally blocking your airway.

Exactly. It’s a big muscle that can plop right back into the airway. The signs—like scalloped edges or indentations from the teeth—show that the tongue is being compressed.

You’ll also sometimes see a big fissure down the center of the tongue because it’s folding over on itself to fit in the mouth.

There are other signs too: daytime sleepiness, not dreaming at night, waking up unrefreshed, dragging yourself out of bed after 8 hours of sleep. An average adult should get 7–8 hours. The younger you are, the more sleep you need. Infants need 18 hours a day.

And sometimes it feels like the opposite—the older I get, the more I need to sleep. But I get what you’re saying. It varies.

Exactly. There are also medical history clues—like reflux, heartburn, hypertension, cancer, and Alzheimer’s in the family. Snoring is a big one too.

If you’re snoring, you’re breathing—but if it’s loud, it’s challenged breathing. That’s highly correlated with sleep apnea.

Now I know you’ve mentioned before that you personally had some sleep challenges. Was that something you discovered while learning about all of this—or was it what led you to it?

It actually caused me to look inward and realize—wait a minute—all those years I was tired while studying, I felt like I couldn’t remember things as well.

I did fine in school, but I always felt like, “I could do better than this.”

I didn’t realize at the time that I had sleep apnea. I wasn’t diagnosed until my 40s, after attending a course where they did sleep testing. Sure enough—it showed up.

Could you comment on that? Because even for me, when you say sleep apnea, I think: CPAP machines, can’t breathe, scary stuff. What exactly is sleep apnea?

Yeah, good question.

From the tip of your nose down to your vocal cords, it’s about a 10-inch section. It can be pinched at any point along the way.

If it’s pinched while you’re sleeping for more than 10 seconds, and if your oxygen drops at least 3% each time—that’s considered one sleep apnea event.

If you have five of those in an hour, that’s considered sleep apnea.

So it’s not an all-or-nothing thing. It’s a condition that can vary. That explains why so many people go undiagnosed.

Exactly.

And when you’re just tired, you don’t necessarily think, “I have a sleep disorder.” You just assume, “This is my normal.”

But is your normal really normal?

Often, it isn’t. Not until you realize: “Other people don’t need three naps a day. They don’t need energy drinks. They don’t wake up groggy after 8 hours.”

I never got into energy drinks, but I used to take naps all through my 30s and 40s, just trying to function.

So as you looked back, did you realize these issues started even earlier in your life?

Yes. As a child, I had teeth pulled because my mouth was so crowded—for braces.

That was the traditional way to treat crowding: remove teeth.

As it turns out, that didn’t really fix the problem. My teeth straightened, sure—but I still had a crowded mouth. Even now, I’ve gone through lots of remodeling, expansion, orthodontic work to reestablish my airway.

The genetic code for human beings codes for 32 teeth. If you don’t have 32 teeth, your jaws are likely underdeveloped genetically.

I had my wisdom teeth out—plus additional ones.

Yeah, same here. Funny story—my dentist told me I actually had extra teeth, like little baby ones tucked back there.

It’s interesting because, as an entrepreneur—and I know a lot of business owners listening can relate—we think it's normal to be tired. We're hustling, working long hours, building something for our families. It’s like we expect to be tired, right?

Exactly. It’s almost worn like a badge of honor: “I’m tired because I’m grinding.”

But what people don’t realize is how much more productive and optimized they could be if they were actually sleeping well.

Right. Health and energy are force multipliers. If you get them right, everything else works better.

Absolutely—100%.

Sleep time is designed to recharge you for the next 16 hours. As an entrepreneur, you need that fuel to go slay the dragon every day.

But you’re trying to do it on four cylinders, when your engine was designed for eight.

That’s a great analogy. And it’s crazy that people accept that as normal.

And I’m sure—one of the things I want to make sure we do with this episode—is include links in the show notes to your website and newsletter. Because I think our goal here is to create awareness.

You've already helped listeners recognize potential symptoms and think about diagnoses. But let’s talk treatment for a minute—because people hear “sleep apnea” and think it automatically means oral surgery or a CPAP machine. What are some of the typical treatment options—home remedies, professional treatments, or what you’d recommend depending on the situation?

Yeah, you bet.

One of the earliest conditions we often treat is snoring. Usually, it’s the wife coming in saying, “Hey, can you fix my husband? I can’t sleep in the same bed anymore.”

So we start with nasal support.

There are products out there—like Mute nasal dilators—that are inserted into the nostrils. There are magnetic nasal strips you place across the nostrils to help open up airflow. They’re kind of like those Breathe Right strips athletes wear.

Studies show if you open up your nasal valves, you actually perform better as an athlete. Same idea here.

So you can start with things like that.

Another is nasal hygiene. Use a clear nasal spray to moisturize and clean the nose. We talk about mouth hygiene, foot hygiene, hand hygiene—but we never talk about nose hygiene.

Keeping your nose clean is a great way to help with breathing.

Wow. I never even thought about that—nasal hygiene as a thing. Makes total sense. What about once it moves into more clinical territory?

If someone has apnea, we can use an oral device—something that gently holds the tongue and jaw forward to open the airway.

When used alongside some simple exercises to tone the tongue muscle, that tongue will start to stay put during sleep.

If you’ve got nasal support and the tongue stays out of the airway, you’re breathing more freely—and oftentimes, that’s enough.

It’s interesting because people tend to think of this as just another treatment routine, but what they don’t realize is the multiplier effect—how significantly energy, focus, and performance improve when you breathe and sleep properly.

That’s why I really wanted to have you on—because these are the kinds of things that go overlooked but make a massive difference.

Yeah, and let me just add: Stephen Covey talks about sharpening the saw.

If you get your sleep right, you become your best self. You’re equipped to accomplish your mission—whatever that is.

I had a woman with chronic migraines who wanted to go on a service trip with her husband but couldn’t. Once we got her breathing corrected, she was able to go to Germany and serve. It was awesome to see that.

That’s powerful. But I’m guessing CPAP is still the most common go-to for sleep apnea, right?

Yes. CPAP is still the traditional treatment.

But it’s a mask worn over a very sensitive part of your body—your face—and strapped to your head. It’s very difficult for many people to tolerate.

In fact, about 70% of people stop using CPAP after a year. Medicare stats show most only use it four hours a night, if at all.

Even oral appliances aren’t perfect—there’s about a 30% drop-off rate after a year.

So if you work with a doctor like me—who evaluates the whole airway and collaborates with a team of specialists—we can usually open the airway using non-surgical or surgical options. And often, you can avoid using CPAP or even a long-term oral device.

Wow. So it really becomes about customizing the treatment and looking at the whole picture.

Exactly.

A guy came in just the other day—we fit him with an oral device and did a laser procedure on his palate. He told me, “I’ve dropped 15 pounds in the last three weeks.”

Wow. That’s incredible.

He didn’t change anything else. Just started breathing better—and his metabolism kicked in. His body began working like it was designed to.

I love that. Because I think most people just assume they’re tired and need more sleep. So they try to rest more or manage their stress—but they’re not fixing the real problem.

I’m curious—because clearly, you’re doing things very differently than most dentists—where do you think the future of this is going? Beyond awareness, is the technology advancing? Are there better tools or methods coming that make this all easier?

Yes—technology is improving. This is a great time to be both a patient and a dentist treating airway issues.

For example, let’s say you came in and were diagnosed with sleep apnea. If you didn’t want a CPAP machine, I’d suggest an oral appliance—but traditionally, you’d have to wait four weeks to get one made.

Meanwhile, you’re still not breathing or sleeping well.

Now, we’re beta testing technology where dentists can 3D print devices right in the office. Same day.

So you could come in, get diagnosed, and walk out with a fully customized oral appliance that night—ready to start sleeping better immediately.

That’s amazing. So the same-day tech we’ve seen with crowns and restorations is now moving into sleep devices too?

Exactly.

We’ve been doing same-day crowns for years. Now, the industry is moving toward same-day snoring and apnea devices as well.

That’s a huge leap forward. And I know you’re not just treating patients—you’re also educating dentists, speaking at events, and consulting. Are you mostly training providers now? Or working with families too?

Mostly my colleagues right now—dentists who want to implement screening and treatment strategies into their practice.

But yes, I do speak to families and the general public as well. In fact, I’m heading to Asia soon—to Taiwan and Japan—to meet with orthodontists, dentists, and industry leaders to talk about this.

But we’ve also created materials specifically for parents and families—simplified guides to help them know what to look for and where to go for help.

I love that. Because this mission you’re on—it’s not just about helping dentists grow professionally. It’s about giving families better health, better energy, better quality of life.

What’s the best way for people to connect with you? Whether they’re a dentist, healthcare provider, or parent looking for answers?

Online is the best way. I have a website, LinkedIn, and other platforms.

Perfect. What I’ll do is add those links to the show notes—your website, newsletter, social media—so people can connect. And I want to say: your newsletter is excellent. It’s mostly for professionals, right?

It is—but we try to write it in a way that works for both healthcare providers and the general public. It’s a 3- to 5-minute read with clear, practical takeaways—bite-sized and easy to digest.

Yeah, it’s really well done. So let me wrap with this: is there one last recommendation, idea, or strategy you’d give to the average person listening right now? Something they can do today to impact their health?

Yes—be your own advocate.

Take ownership of your health. If you don’t, who will?

And remember: the human body is its own physician. It can heal itself if you give it the rest and recovery it needs. Sleep is critical.

Talk with your healthcare provider. Make sure you feel good about your care. If you don’t—keep asking questions, keep looking. Your intuition will tell you when something resonates. Follow that.

Have the courage to pursue it. The knowledge is out there. We just have to seek it out and take action.

That’s brilliant advice. I always say on this podcast—it’s never too late to live the life you were meant to live. But you’ve got to take responsibility for it. And it’s never been easier to get informed and take action.

From what you’re saying, it’s not even that hard anymore. And the impact is massive.

Thank you so much for joining us. For everyone listening, I’ll include all of Mike’s links in the show notes—his newsletter, website, and social media handles.

Please share this episode. This is a message that resonates far beyond just dentistry—it’s about health, mindset, and creating the best life you can live.

Thanks again for joining us here on The Daily Mastermind. We’ll talk with you again tomorrow.

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About George Wright III:

George Wright is a Proven, Successful Entrepreneur- and he knows how to inspire entrepreneurs, companies, and individuals to achieve Massive Results. With more than 20 years of Executive Management experience and 25 years of Direct Marketing and Sales experience, George is responsible for starting and building several successful multimillion-dollar companies. He started at a very young age to network and build his experience and knowledge of what it takes to become a driven and well-known entrepreneur. George built a multi-million-dollar seminar business, promoting some of the biggest stars and brands in the world. He has accelerated the success and cash flow in each of his ventures through his network of resources and results driven strategies. George is now dedicated to teaching and sharing his Prosperity Principles and Strategies to every Driven and Passionate Entrepreneur he meets. His mission is to Empower Entrepreneurs Globally to create Massive Change and LIVE their Ultimate Destiny.

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About Mike Bennett:

Mike Bennett, DDS, PhD, is a board certified dentist and educator passionate about helping people breathe, sleep, and heal through airway focused care. With a PhD in Healthcare Professions Education, he empowers both dentists and the general public to understand the critical link between oral health and whole body wellness. His mission is to transform lives by making dentistry about more than teeth it’s about total health

Guest Resources:

https://morethanteeth.co/

https://www.advanced-dentalcare.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-bennett-54a7b859/

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