Breath, Body & Business
Rethinking Structure, Systems, & Strategy
A conference for the elevation of airway hygienists
You are invited to our upcoming virtual conference - Breath, Body & Business. As the premier event in the field of dental hygiene, this conference is meticulously curated to provide you with a transformative learning experience, equipping you with the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to excel in the dynamic realm of myofunctional and airway health.
The Breath, Body & Business conference promises a comprehensive agenda designed to enrich your professional knowledge and expand your horizons:
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In-depth Learning: Earn up to 7CE while immersing yourself in cutting-edge presentations and workshops covering a wide range of topics, including the role of myofunctional therapy in craniofacial growth and hypermobility, enhancing your business, understanding CBCT images, and gain invaluable insights to increase your airway focused business.
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Interactive Sessions: Engage with our expert speakers and fellow attendees through live Q&A sessions, panel discussions, and networking opportunities. Share your insights, ask questions, and collaborate with like-minded professionals from around the globe.
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Recording Access: Enjoy the ability to watch and rewatch lectures with exclusive member access to conference recordings for up to 3 months!
Speakers & Agenda
We are honored to present an esteemed lineup of speakers who are pioneers and thought leaders in the fields of myofunctional therapy and airway health:
9:00 AM- 11:00 AM ET
The Airway CEO: Intrapreneurship and Entrepreneurship in Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy
Shirley Gutkowski
The transition from a "scaler-for-hire" to a specialist in airway stability is a business evolution. This course is designed for the dental hygienist who recognizes the tongue’s role as the "natural rudder" for growth and a "built-in retainer" for stability, and wants to monetize that expertise. We are moving past the clinical "how-to" and into the operational "how-to."
We will compare two distinct paths to success: the Intrapreneur, who maximizes revenue and impact within an existing dental practice, and the Entrepreneur, who builds an independent OMT brand. From navigating LLC formation and the ethics of billing to the strategic leap from tele-health to a brick-and-mortar building, this session provides the financial and legal blueprint for your airway career.
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM ET
The Front Line of the Airway Pandemic: Correcting Oral Posture to Optimize Facial Growth and Respiratory Health
Dr. Bill Hang
This course explores the critical relationship between resting oral posture, craniofacial development, and airway patency. Participants will learn how "the big three" (tongue to palate, lips together, nasal breathing) dictate the trajectory of facial growth and how myofunctional therapy serves as a primary intervention for the airway pandemic. Utilizing personal case studies in athletic performance and structural change, this course provides therapists with the tools to motivate pediatric patients toward 100% nasal breathing.
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET
Under Pressure
Ken Hooks
Uncovering the hidden patterns of upper airway resistance that evade traditional diagnosis. While AHI proclaims numbers are king, the body often tells a different story; one of disrupted sleep architecture, increased respiratory effort, and subtle autonomic instability.Through the integration of CBCT imaging and sleep study data, attendees will explore how deficiencies in facial architecture contribute to airway restriction and physiologic stress. This presentation highlights not only what these deficiencies look like, but how they function, and how they fail.
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET
Recognizing Hypermobility in Airway Care: A Whole-Body Approach to Breathing & Posture
Jenna Justice
Many people live with hypermobility syndromes for decades without diagnosis, often presenting with complex multi-system involvement that impacts breathwork, postural control, and long-term treatment outcomes. These patients are often labeled as "complex," "non-compliant," or "anxious," when in reality, their presentation reflects underlying nervous system wiring and connective tissue differences. This course helps providers recognize hypermobility syndromes and understand their impact on breathing mechanics, breathwork, and overall function. Participants will learn practical screening strategies and referral pathways in order to provide validating, holistic, and effective care to hypermobile patients.
Shirley Gutkowski
RDH, BSDH
Shirley Gutkowski is the Chief Visionary Officer behind Primal Air OMT and Breathing Retraining and The Kaleidoscope Collaborative Care, a high-level clinical framework dedicated to Craniofacial Respiratory Realignment and Airway Integration. Her work represents a strategic bridge between ancestral biology and modern structural science, focusing on the systemic Biological Soil required to secure respiratory health.
As a pioneer in the field, she moves beyond traditional myofunctional therapy by addressing the root causes of "Skeletal Debt" and metabolic inflammatory loads. Her proprietary protocols, including the Raptor Scales and Bolus Index, provide a data-driven roadmap for identifying and treating the warning signs of sleep-disordered breathing and developmental collapse due to identifiable markers in the dental hygiene exam.
A strategic consultant for surgeons and orthodontists, she is the architect of the 3-2-1 Rule and the Primal Family Diet integration. Through her leadership, Gutkowski has built a unique collaboration of specialists dedicated to restoring biological and ancestral realignment, ensuring that every patient—from "Hatchling" to "Apex Raptor"— and Fragile Adults reclaim their systemic vitality.
William Hang
DDS, MSD
Dr. William M. Hang graduated from the University of Illinois College of Dentistry and the University of Minnesota Orthodontic program where he briefly taught orthodontics. He was active in the specialty of orthodontics for 50 years.
Dr. Hang founded OrthO2Health™ to teach and mentor doctors about airway healthy orthodontic treatments for all ages. His Early Childhood Health-centered Orthodontic Mentorship™ (E.C.H.O.) focuses on treatments for children approximately age 10 and under with an emphasis on treating in the primary dentition. The Hang E.R.R.S.™ (Extraction Retraction Regret Syndrome™) Orthodontic Mentorship addresses treatments for teens and adults to optimize facial balance and airway. Reversing previous orthodontic retraction including re-opening previous bicuspid extraction spaces or missing lateral incisor spaces is a major focus.
Myofunctional therapy, dismissed in his training, became a major factor in Dr. Hang’s practice and his personal life. He began running marathons with his lips together, breathing through his nose. In 2023 he ran the Boston Marathon with his lips taped to demonstrate the importance of nasal breathing.
Ken Hooks
RRT, RPSGT
Ken Hooks is the Founder and Operator of True Sleep Diagnostics, based in Greenville, South Carolina, offering home sleep tests for providers and via mail order – with airflow dynamics assessments, remote PAP pressure consultation and adjustment, and second opinions. He is a registered respiratory therapist with 14 years of experience and a registered polysomnographic technologist for adults and pediatrics with 13 years of experience. He is the former sleep medicine representative for Mercy Health Bon Secours St Francis in Greenville, SC, and former Clinical Director and instructor of the Polysomnographic Technician Course at Greenville Technical College. He co-authored the case report “Rapid Maxillary Expansion and Adenotonsillectomy in 9-Year-Old Twins with Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: An Interdisciplinary Effort.
Jenna Justice
DPT, CPT
Dr. Jenna Justice is a physical therapist, certified personal trainer, and founder of Empowered Movement Physical Therapy & Wellness. She specializes in working with clients with connective tissue disorders and has dedicated her career to raising awareness of hypermobility syndromes and commonly overlooked comorbidities. Her full body approach to movement considers how all systems work together to provide stable, safe movement. When she's not working, she manages her own hypermobility while embracing a grounded lifestyle on a homestead with her husband and a variety of animals.