335: Bedwetting, Tantrums & the Hidden Airway Crisis No One Talks About | Dr. Cruz (Kelly's Dentist)
Be Well by Kelly Leveque
Kelly Leveque
4.8 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 30 April 2025
⏱️ 86 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, I sit down with airway-focused dentist Dr. Mark A. Cruz to explore how breathing, facial development, and airway health impact everything from childhood behavior to long-term wellness. We talk about the hidden signs of poor airway function—like bedwetting, thumb-sucking, and mouthbreathing—and how early intervention can make a lifelong difference.
Dr. Cruz explains the evolution of the human jaw, the importance of nasal breathing, and why so many common issues are misdiagnosed. Whether you're a parent or simply curious about optimizing your own health, this conversation will change the way you think about dentistry and whole-body care.
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Topics Discussed:
- How does airway health affect my child’s sleep and behavior?
- What are the signs of poor airway function in children?
- Can improving airway health help with focus and learning in kids?
- What is the connection between mouthbreathing and developmental issues?
- How can improving my child’s airway help with bedwetting and sleep disorders?
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Timestamps:
- 00:00:00 – Episode intro and overview
- 00:02:25 – Dr. Cruz’s background and education
- 00:06:51 – Starting out at UCLA and private practice
- 00:09:45 – Craniofacial medicine
- 00:16:09 – Jaw development around the world
- 00:18:34 – How the human head evolved
- 00:20:30 – Key findings from Dr. Cruz’s research
- 00:24:49 – Understanding and building the airway
- 00:28:58 – Parenting instincts in airway health
- 00:34:36 – What to know about hypoxia
- 00:35:30 – Sleep’s effect on the nervous system
- 00:40:28 – Expanding nasal airways
- 00:43:41 – Why airway issues get misdiagnosed
- 00:46:40 – Long-term effects of mouthbreathing
- 00:50:30 – Mewing and facial growth
- 00:53:20 – How airway form affects function
- 00:59:06 – Breathing techniques that help
- 01:03:09 – Treatment strategies to consider
- 01:07:51 – Personalized therapy approaches
- 01:13:27 – Health risks of untreated airway issues
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just how you breathe can affect long-term heart disease, obesity, and then we could start |
| 0:08.7 | getting into the neurocognitive problem. |
| 0:10.6 | So it's just a huge cabal of so many symptoms that are driven by inflammatory responses. |
| 0:17.1 | You're listening to Be Well by Kelly Leveck. |
| 0:26.6 | Hey everyone, in today's episode, I interview Dr. Mark Cruz. He graduated from the UCLA School of Dentistry in 1986, and he happens to be my kids' airway |
| 0:31.6 | dentist. |
| 0:32.6 | We started seeking out an airway dentist that would support my boys to expand their palate, |
| 0:38.5 | open up their nasal cavity, and allow for more oxygen to get into their body. |
| 0:44.1 | And that's because we were seeing symptoms that were related to poor airway health and poor breathing, |
| 0:48.5 | such as wetting the bed at night and not being able to get out of pull-ups, |
| 0:52.8 | behavioral issues, exhaustion, biting |
| 0:56.0 | nails, pacifier needs, and thumb-sucking. So if any of these are habits or behaviors or a child |
| 1:03.0 | might have, this episode is for you with the goal of your child or even yourself learning how |
| 1:08.5 | to breathe properly and live your best life. So hopefully this educates you on Airway Health. |
| 1:13.5 | And if you are interested in watching this podcast via video, we are now streaming our video on Spotify. |
| 1:20.9 | And if you want to follow along and see who we're interviewing next, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter at bewellbykelly.com. I will let you know who's coming |
| 1:29.7 | on the show, what we're talking about, and all of the highlights of the best episodes. |
| 1:36.0 | Dr. Mark Cruz, I have been looking forward to this interview since you first started working with |
| 1:41.5 | my boys on their airway health. So thank you so much for being here. |
| 1:45.5 | Thank you. |
| 1:46.0 | It's my privilege. |
| 1:46.8 | I've been also looking forward to it. |
... |
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