Advancements in A Functional Approach to Sleep & Breathing: Tongue-Tie, Tongue-Tone, and Tongue-Space

Abstract:

This presentation explores how the tongue—its tone, mobility, and space—plays a pivotal role in sleep, breathing, and overall health. Drawing on 7 years of clinical experience and research, we will reframe tongue-tie not just as a localized oral restriction, but as a root-cause contributor to mouth breathing, craniofacial underdevelopment, and systemic dysfunction.

Healthcare providers across all disciplines will gain insights into how undiagnosed oral restrictions may be contributing to mouth breathing, clenching, grinding, sleep issues, fatigue, depression, anxiety, neck tension, pain, postural dysfunction, and fascial restrictions. We'll challenge outdated paradigms, share emerging evidence, and present a compelling argument for why tongue-tie matters—and why overlooking it is no longer an option.

This session is designed to shift the mindset of even the most skeptical clinicians and inspire a more integrated, functional approach to patient care.

Learning Objectives:

1. Appreciate the impact of restricted tongue-mobility, oral dysfunction, and limited tongue space on mouth breathing, clenching, grinding, sleep issues, fatigue, depression, anxiety, neck tension, pain, postural dysfunction, and fascial restrictions.

2. Understand how these oral restrictions can disrupt sleep and contribute to broader dysfunction in both children and adults.

3. Challenge conventional medical assumptions by presenting a functional, interdisciplinary approach rooted in anatomy, development, and long-term health outcomes.

Dr. Soroush Zaghi graduated from Harvard Medical School, completed residency in ENT (Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery) at UCLA, and Sleep Surgery Fellowship at Stanford University. He now serves as medical director of The Breathe Institute where the focus of his sub-specialty training is on the comprehensive treatment of nasal obstruction, mouth breathing, snoring, and obstructive sleep apnea in children and adults. He is very active in clinical research with over 97+ peer-reviewed research publications in the fields of neuroscience, head and neck surgery, myofunctional therapy, sleep-disordered breathing, and tongue-tie surgery.