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About Us

Helping our community for over 15 years

A Doctor Who Cares

J. Peter St. Clair, DMD

In 1995, the year I my started dental practice, I remember seeing an ad in a dental journal for an “anti-snoring” dental device. I made one for my father, who was a heavy snorer for as long as I can remember. It helped with his snoring for a while, but the device fell apart after a few months. Eventually, my mother made him have a sleep study and he was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. He has had success with CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) for 20+ years. 


While I have focused my practice and continuing education on preventative and restorative dentistry for most of my career, in 2012 I attended a weekend course at Tufts on Dental Sleep Medicine. While the course content was a great introduction into the world of treating sleep apnea with dental orthotics, my wife was more excited that I got to make myself a dental device to eliminate my snoring....and it worked! 

During the next five years, while I continued to focus on my general dental practice, I was also screening and asking my patients about their sleep. If there were any concerns, I referred patients to their Primary Care Provider to discuss. I felt the need to learn more, as I saw so many people struggling with sleep, whether it was their own or not being able to sleep because of the person next to them.  In 2017, I completed the Tufts Mini-residency program in Dental Sleep Medicine, and in 2020 I became a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine. 


In January 2023, I dedicated more of my time to treating patients with sleep apnea and TMJ problems, which are often connected. I enjoy being part of a team with physicians and other practitioners to help our patients get better sleep and/or help with their TMJ problems. Better sleep = Better Life. 

BEHIND THE SCENES

About the Practice

Brookside Sleep Wellness is a physician/dentist referral-based practice for the treatment of snoring, sleep apnea, and most TMJ (temporomandibular joint) disorders. 


The most important gift a provider can give to their patients is their time. We spend the time it takes with every patient to learn how their problems with sleep and/or TMJ are affecting their lives. Diagnosis, proper treatment and follow-up are the keys to our success in treating these issues. Telling someone with a sleep breathing disorder to just sleep on their side, or someone with a TMJ problem to just wear a nightguard is often not enough. 


While TMJ and sleep breathing problems often co-exist, they can very well be separate issues. We are constantly navigating new and different treatment modalities to provide our patients with the treatment we feel is most conservative to obtain the objectives. We cannot make every patient better, as there are often contributing factors outside of our scope of clinical practice. However, we are focused on screening and helping those who we feel orthotic and regenerative therapy will most likely have a positive result. 


Ask us about the “Carentee” we offer for Dental Orthotic Sleep Treatment 

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