Tragedy, Resilience, and a Mission to Transform Orthodontics (w/Dr. Bret Christensen) [Ep.175]

Dr. Bret Christensen is an Army veteran, orthodontist, and one of only five orthodontists in the country board-certified in sleep medicine through the American Sleep & Breathing Academy. He owns and operates Christensen Orthodontics with locations in Lewiston, Grangeville, and Moscow, Idaho. In this emotional and wide-ranging episode, Bret opens up about losing his son, surviving a widow-maker heart attack at 45, undergoing open-heart surgery and getting a pacemaker, all while transforming his practice from traditional extraction-based orthodontics to a data-driven, airway-focused approach.

He shares thousands of patient records showing that skeletal expansion dramatically improves nasal airway volume, his discovery that toddlers as young as two-and-a-half can be treated, and why he believes the AAO is standing in the way of progress. Plus, a surprise visit from his granddaughter Everly - the child who changed everything.

⏱️ Timestamps / Chapters

0:00 — Cold Open

0:13 — Introduction & Guest Bio

2:53 — Farm Kid Roots & Education

7:16 — Military Career & Orthodontics

11:32 — Building a Practice from Scratch

13:48 — The Shift from Extraction to Expansion

17:05 — Discovering Sleep Apnea Through His Father

21:02 — Surviving a Widow-Maker Heart Attack

25:55 — Training in Sleep Apnea & The Rhinometer