Archive for July, 2024
The Society for Dentofacial Growth & Function
🎉🎉SDGF Conference 2026 tickets are now officially live🎉🎉
PLEASE NOTE THERE HAS BEEN A DATE CANGE FROM SEPT 11TH TO SEPT 12TH.
We are delighted to announce:
“Growing Together – Understanding Craniofacial Development Through Collaboration”
SATURDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER 2026
Kennedy Lecture Theatre, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London 8.00am – 5.30pm.
https://buytickets.at/sdgf2026/2228669
This full-day multidisciplinary conference will bring together clinicians and healthcare professionals interested in dentofacial growth, airway, craniofacial development, function, sleep and interdisciplinary care.
The aim is to create meaningful discussion and collaboration between professions, exploring how a broader understanding of growth and function can influence long-term patient health and developm…
[8:10 am, 24/05/2026] Biju Krishnan: We are absolutely delighted to welcome Dr Tasha Turzo as one of the keynote speakers for this year’s SDGF Conference — “Growing Together: Understanding Craniofacial Development Through Collaboration.”
Dr Turzo has become one of the most influential voices internationally in helping clinicians rethink craniofacial growth, airway health, function, and the long-term consequences of modern lifestyle and developmental influences on the growing face. Her ability to connect science, clinical observation, anthropology, airway, function, and real-world patient care is genuinely thought-provoking.
At a time when medicine, dentistry, osteopathy, ENT, myofunctional therapy, sleep medicine, and orthodontics are increasingly recognising the importance of collaborative, physiology-led care, her message could not be more relevant.
Early-Early Bird tickets (£175) are available until May 30th only before prices increase.
Spaces are limited and momentum is building quickly.
Join us in London this September for what promises to be one of the most important multidisciplinary conversations in modern healthcare.
https://buytickets.at/sdgf2026/2228669
Diagram kindly shared by Dr David McIntosh, Paediatric ENT.
This society focuses on diagnosis in the first decade using the FairEST 6 screening tool.
Mission Statement: Our mission is to significantly increase paediatric health potential & wellbeing by promoting early screening and integrative treatment approaches in order to optimise children’s structural and functional development. We aim to fully develop the structure and function of children’s airways, faces and jaws. This includes optimising the oral functions of chewing, swallowing, speech, breathing, sleep, whilst also developing the biomechanics of the whole body. By addressing these critical areas, we strive to optimise future health outcomes in the population at large. We feel there are many opportunities that can be optimised from taking this broader clinical perspective.
Through a collaborative network of healthcare professionals, we are dedicated to learning how we can work together to provide, comprehensive care. We recognises the interdependent relationship of structure and function and with this perspective we aim to address the root cause of a child’s presenting challenges.
We commit to advancing research, education and clinical practice to empower children and families with the foundation for a lifetime of well-being.
Our Membership Directory is a useful source for referrals, connecting Myofunctional Therapists, Cranial Osteopaths, Orthodontists, Dentists, Speech & Language Therapists, Oral Surgeons (tongue tie), ENTs, GPs, Allergists, Lactation Consultants, Infant Feeding Support, Clinicians with a special interest in Dental Sleep Medicine & Early Intervention, Nutritionists and any other health professional who is passionate about optimising the growth and development of our children.
Membership application can be made through our Facebook group or the Contact Form on this website. Please leave a message with your job title, qualification, special interests, location/ address, email address and mobile number.
Current membership is 436 of which 224 are dental and 132 are internationals spanning 34 countries with more than 20 health related disciplines
Our Membership Directory (password protected) lists members in the UK & Ireland, 18 European countries, Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, India, Iraq, Israel, Mexico, Oman, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, UAE & USA. This is a useful source for referrals.
Website stats for May 298 visitors & 392 views.
See new courses posted in the website section.
The Six Red Flags Exam Findings for Pediatric Sleep-Disordered Breathing are a set of signs that may indicate a child is at risk for sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). These findings are evaluated utilizing this assessment tool. FairEST6.
FairEST 6 Assessment for Sleep-Disordered Breathing.
The 6 signs it evaluates are:
- Nasal Breathing – Being able to breathe through the nose comfortably for 3 minutes or more
- Mentalis Strain – being able to close the lips without straining the muscles of the chin
- Tonsil Size – enlarged tonsils make the upper airway smaller and create resistance to nasal breathing
- Tongue Tie – a tie restricts movement of the tongue and its ability to rest in the roof of the mouth
- Grinding or Bruxism – this is a sign of muscular dysfunction and tension within the mouth
- Narrow Palate – this creates difficulty for the tongue to rest due to inadequate space
Connecting Heads 