One Family's Airway Revolution (w/Sydney & Dr. Victor Avis) [Ep.167]

In this episode, I sit down with a truly inspiring father-daughter team - Dr. Victor Avis, a recently retired general dentist and orthodontist of 38 years, and his daughter Sydney Avis, co-founders of the Airway Revolution Foundation. What begins as a deeply personal story about Sydney's lifelong, undiagnosed struggle with airway and sleep disorders quickly evolves into a powerful conversation about the systemic gaps in how medicine and dentistry recognize and treat airway-related health issues. From Sydney's childhood as a chronic mouth breather to her life-changing double jaw surgery in 2020, and from Dr. Avis' discovery of the Mews and orthotropics to the launch of a nonprofit digital learning platform, this episode is packed with insight, honesty, and a whole lot of heart.

Timestamps

0:00 — Introduction & welcome

0:23 — About today's guests: Dr. Victor Avis & Sydney Avis, co-founders of the Airway Revolution Foundation

3:16 — Dr. Avis frames the conversation: what it's like to see patients transform through airway treatment, and why he didn't see it in his own daughter

7:19 — Sydney begins her story: growing up without knowing something was wrong

8:21 — Dr. Avis reflects: he didn't know mouth breathing wasn't normal, even watching home videos; the missed opportunity at age 6

10:43 — School struggles begin: from A student to C student despite extraordinary effort; asthma, inhalers, and cavities nobody connected to airway

15:25 — Sydney's growing anxiety: first panic attack at prom; daily panic attacks escalating through her gap year

15:57 — The breaking point: a 3 AM call from Thailand - Sydney in the hospital getting a brain scan

20:29 — Dr. Avis discovers John Mew on YouTube; two weeks later he's in England studying orthotropics

22:19 — Presenting Sydney's case to Bill Hang's study group: the recommendation for double jaw surgery, and Sydney's immediate answer: "Okay, let's do it"