I had an awesome conversation with Dr. Kristen Knecht, who owns and runs her own orthodontic practice in Houston, TX. Kristen opens up about her personal and professional journey, including:

• How Kristen went from UConn Ortho to working for a DSO in Texas, to opening her own practice, Knecht Orthodontics in the midst of COVID.
• The pros and cons of working for a DSO.
• The lessons she learned from working for her dad’s industrial construction company.
• How Kristen implemented fiscal responsibility and delayed gratification to put her in a position to start her own practice.
• When she knew that she wanted to start her own practice and how it’s going 4 years in.
• The importance and value of studying your finishes and learning from what went well and what you can improve upon.
• How Kristen financed the finish-out of her new practice and how she used the income from her savings and associateship to help cover the expenses.
• The challenge of finding someone to help with the business decisions associated with starting and running a practice.
• Which FB groups have been a huge help to Kristen in her professional journey.
• How Kristen and I both evolved from a reactive, extraction-based approach to a proactive, expansion-based approach to treatment.
• How early arch development will dramatically decrease the incidence of canine impaction.
• Why our educational institutions aren’t teaching more proactive/early treatment, even though the literature is full of evidence that can be extremely beneficial.
• The influence that Dr. David Alfi (an oral surgeon in Houston, TX) has had on Kristen’s airway journey.
• The analogy between Peter Attia’s Medicine 2.0 vs. 3.0 and orthodontics.
• What Kristen’s colleagues say about her journey to understand the role of airway in malocclusion and provide earlier orthodontic treatment to develop the arches.
• Why female orthos seem more receptive to the idea of early treatment, especially as it pertains to airway, than their male counterparts.
• The numerous benefits of low-dose CBCT imaging and how Kristen has incorporated 3D imaging it into her practice.
• How Kristen utilizes myofunctional therapy to help her patients.

LINKS:

-Dr. Knecht Email: kknecht87@gmail.com

-Dr. Mike Email: drmike@theorthocoach.com

-Shereen Lim’s book (“Breathe, Sleep, Thrive”): https://www.amazon.com/Breathe-Sleep-Thrive-Discover-potential/dp/0645553212

-Audrey Yoon Episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-doc-podcast/id1689703392?i=1000664711076

-Audrey Yoon Article: Impact of rapid palatal expansion on the side of the adenoids and tonsils in children; Sleep Med. 2022 April ; 92: 96–102. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2022.02.011. [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35390750/]

-Kevin Boyd Episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-doc-podcast/id1689703392?i=1000663309000

-David Alfie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.davidalfi?igsh=MTkxd2QweGh4Z296OQ==