The sleep test lead to a tonsil removal and the apnea resolved. Billy grew, slept well and became an “A” student. He graduated college Magna Cum Laude, a feat that would never have occurred without having had good sleep. Dr. Shapira became a visiting assistant professor at Rush where he investigated the relation of jaw function to male sleep apnea. He found that the jaw functions of the male apnea patients and female TMJ and chronic pain patients were nearly identical.
Dr. Shapira became an expert on sleep and worked on treating sleep apnea with oral appliances. As a charter and credentialed member of the sleep disorder dental society which later became the Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, he worked to bring more dentists into the field. He is a Diplomat of the AADSM. A frequent lecturer for the Academy of Anti-aging medicine, one of his lectures became a chapter on anti-aging dentistry in a medical textbook on anti-aging medicine. He was an early pioneer talking to physicians about the effect or periodontal disease on general health and taught physicians how to treat patients with oral appliances. He was asked to return to Rush in the late 1990’s where he treated patients with sleep apnea with oral appliances.
His private practice focuses on sleep, TMJ disorders, neuromuscular and reconstructive dentistry. He is a Diplomat of the Academy of Pain Management and a Fellow of the International College of Craniomandibular Orthopedics. In the last several years, he was a founding member of DOSA, the dental organization for sleep apnea, dental editor and frequent author of Sleep and Health. Dr. Shapira’s protocols for titration of oral appliances are used throughout the Chicago land area as well as around the country. His web site www.ihatecpap.com is becoming a national resource for patients desiring alternatives to CPAP.