The mouth is the front door to the airway. When we treat from the airway down, the symptoms patients arrived with — jaw pain, broken sleep, crowded teeth, a face that didn’t quite track — start behaving differently.
The presentations look different. The diagnostic frame is the same. The evaluation visit is shared across all four — what comes out of it is specific to what we find.
If sleep isn't restful, the airway is usually why.
We evaluate snoring, witnessed apneas, morning headaches, dry mouth, bedwetting in kids, and adult fatigue that won't lift. The exam looks at nasal patency, posture, and bite — not just at whether you stop breathing.
Jaw pain that splints alone won't settle.
Jaw clicking and locking. Headaches that started at the temples. Ear pain a doctor said was fine. Pain that flares with stress, with sleep, with chewing on one side. We screen the airway driving the muscle pattern, then treat both.
Expand the arch. Don't retract it.
Crowded teeth, narrow palates, retrognathic chins, kids on the borderline of needing extractions. We expand the dental arch in three dimensions to support the airway and the face — not against them.
The everyday work, done properly.
Cleanings, hygiene, fillings, crowns, conservative restorations, and the routine maintenance that keeps an airway-aware result holding. We see existing patients on a regular cadence and welcome new ones for an evaluation visit.
Double-board-certified in craniofacial pain (ABCP) and dental sleep medicine (ABCDSM, ABDSM). Developer of the ControlledArch orthodontic protocol. Master Senior Instructor at the Facial Beauty Institute.
No associates, no rotations, no chair-shopping between clinicians. Every evaluation is ninety minutes with Dr. Deal, same-visit findings, written plan before you leave.
Tell us briefly what you've noticed — for you or for a child. Office staff places you on the schedule and sends an intake form to fill out before the visit.
Ninety minutes with Dr. Deal directly. Airway-aware exam — nasal patency, posture, tongue position, occlusion, photographs, CBCT imaging if indicated. Sleep questionnaire for adults; growth screen for kids.
Same visit, no second appointment for results. You leave with a written plan — what's driving what you've noticed, what we'd treat, what we wouldn't, and the timeline. No pressure to start that day.
Treatment is staged. Most adult sleep, TMD, and adult ortho cases begin within the next four weeks. Pediatric growth-guidance cases are scheduled to the child's growth window — sometimes immediately, sometimes after a watch period.
“Twelve years of jaw pain. Three splints from other offices that didn't touch it. Six months after starting at Symmetry, the splint is off and I'm sleeping through the night.”
“Our daughter was being referred for ADHD evaluation. The airway exam caught what no one else had screened for. A year later her sleep is solid and her teacher noticed the focus change before we did.”
“I drove four hours each way for the evaluation. It was worth it. Dr. Deal explained more in ninety minutes than I'd learned from three previous sleep-medicine visits.”
Initials and locations only · full names withheld for patient privacy
If you or your child has snoring, restless sleep, morning headaches, dark circles, chronic jaw pain, crowded teeth, or a face that doesn't quite track — book the evaluation. Ninety minutes tells us whether the airway is driving the picture, and you leave with a plan either way.
The comprehensive new-patient evaluation is a fee-for-service appointment. The office will give you the exact figure before booking. We provide detailed superbills for out-of-network reimbursement, and many sleep-related and TMD services have meaningful out-of-network coverage.
Symmetry is fee-for-service and out-of-network with insurance carriers. We're upfront about this because in-network constraints get in the way of how we like to treat. The office walks you through expected reimbursement and superbills before you book.
Yes, frequently. Patients travel from across the South for complex pediatric airway, TMD, and adult ControlledArch cases. We coordinate hotel and timing so the trip is one or two visits, not five. Or — for screening only — try the sleep-apnea quiz at idealsleepnow.com.
From about age four through adult. Pediatric growth-guidance windows close roughly between ages seven and twelve, so earlier is better — but adult expansion and adult sleep/TMD work remain very much on the table. Rarely is it too late.
Yes — every evaluation is with Dr. Deal. No associates, no rotations. Ongoing hygiene and recall visits are with our team; clinical decisions and treatment planning are always his.
