Why do thousands of dentists take sleep courses but never treat a single patient? Dr. Erin Elliott explains the "Implementation Gap" and how to bridge the friction between interest and action.

What We Discuss with Dr. Erin Elliott:

• The "So What? Now What?" Framework: Why most continuing education (CE) fails practitioners and how to filter clinical information through the lens of immediate office implementation.
• From Outliers to Mainstream: How the dental sleep medicine landscape has shifted over the last seven years, moving from a niche curiosity to a packed-house necessity.
• The Implementation Gap: More dentists are attending courses than ever before, yet the "rubber meets the road" friction remains. We break down the pitfalls and "pratt-falls" of scaling a sleep practice.
• Beyond Sleep: Why Dr. Elliott is integrating Cone Beam (CBCT) technology with implants and pathology to create a comprehensive surgical and airway-focused practice.
• The "Alford Plea" of Business: The hosts discuss a "guilty plea" in which the defendant maintains their innocence but admits that the prosecution likely has sufficient evidence to convict them. It allows a defendant to take a plea deal while technically never saying "I did it."
• And much more…
  
  

Episode Summary:

You’re sitting in the back of a darkened conference room, pen poised over a fresh notebook, ready to revolutionize your practice. Three days later, you return to the office with twenty pages of notes and zero idea how to bill the first medical insurance claim or talk to a patient about a MAD device. This is the Implementation Gap, and it’s where most dental sleep dreams go to die.

In this inaugural episode, Jason Tierney and Dr. Erin Elliott—returning to the mic together after a seven-year hiatus—tackle the "intellectual self-play" that plagues the industry. They introduce a framework designed to bypass the abstractions and focus on the "So What? Now What?" of clinical life. Dr. Elliott, a national lecturer based in Idaho, shares how she balances general dentistry with a high-level focus on sleep, surgery, and pathology. Whether you're a sleep medicine veteran or just curious about the airway, this conversation will fundamentally reshape how you think about "making it happen" in your practice.

The Final Countdown: Rapid Fire Round

• The Magic Wand: If money didn't matter, Dr. Elliott would be on the pro pickleball circuit, while Jason would be molding minds as a high-school English teacher.
• Cinematic Sins: The hosts agree: the sequels are never as good. Avoid Anchorman 2 and Five Nights at Freddy's 2 at all costs.
• The Walk-Up: Entering the ring? Dr. Elliott pumps up with her original jam "Air Baby," while Jason goes dark with "Shockwave: 5 Faces of Darkness."