Meet Dr. Greg Essick

Dr. Greg Essick

Before moving to Blowing Rock, Dr. Greg Essick was Professor of Comprehensive Oral Health at the UNC Adams School of Dentistry where he founded and oversaw the Dental Sleep Clinic. The Clinic provided the school’s venue for patient care, education and research in the use of oral appliances for treatment of sleep-disordered breathing. Since 2008 Dr. Essick provided much of the school’s sleep education to dental and dental hygiene students, and to dental specialty residents. In addition, he co-founded and co-directed a dental sleep training program for dentists in private practice. Dr. Essick served as chair of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine Research Committee and of the Academic Dental Sleep Medicine Council, and worked to develop position statements for an effective oral appliance and its adjustment. He co-chaired a task force of the North Carolina Dental Society to develop a policy for the practice of dental sleep medicine in NC. Currently, Dr. Essick lectures and serves as associate editor of the Journal of Dental Sleep Medicine. He has authored over 120 journal articles and book chapters. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine. Dr. Essick joined High Country Dentistry in April, 2021 and looks forward to helping people in the High Country manage their obstructive sleep apnea and snoring.

Publications in Sleep Medicine

Essick GK, Di Giosia M, Alonso A, Raphael KG, Sanders AE, Lavigne GJ. Temporomandibular Disorders in Relation to Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Sleep Bruxism. In: Kryger M, Roth T, Dement WC, eds. Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine, 7th edition, 2021.
Sheats R, Essick G, Grosdidier J, Katz S, Kim C, Levine M, Patel I. Identifying the appropriate therapeutic position of an oral appliance. Journal of Dental Sleep Medicine, 2020; 7(4).
Cronin C, Essick G, Boone H, Phillips C. Long Term Patient Centered Outcomes Following Treatment with Oral Appliance Therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Journal of Dental Sleep Medicine, 2019; 6(3).
Essick GK, Raphael KG, Sanders AE, Lavigne GJ. Orofacial pain / temporomandibular disorders in relation to sleep disordered breathing and sleep bruxism. In: Kryger M, Roth T, Dement WC, eds. Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine, 6th edition, Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2016: 1435-1445.
Brugarolas R, Valero-Sarmiento JM, Bozkurt A, Essick GK. Auto-Adjusting Mandibular Repositioning Device for In-Home Use. Proceedings of the 38th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2016: 4296-4299.
Essick G, Blank A, Spencer J, Parker J. Part IV: Oral Appliance Therapy for Sleep-Disordered Breathing, Inside Dental Technology, December 2016: https://idt.cdeworld.com/courses/5035-Part_IV:Oral_Appliance_Therapy_for_Sleep-Disordered_Breathing.
Essick G, Blank A, Spencer J, Parker J. Part III: Oral Appliance Therapy for Sleep-Disordered Breathing, Inside Dental Technology, September 2016 Issue: https://idt.cdeworld.com/courses/5023.
Essick G, Parker J, Spencer J, Blank A. Introduction to Sleep-Disordered Breathing: Fostering success with collaborative patient care, Inside Dentistry, 2016; 12(8): 1-2.
Dillow KD, Essick GK, Sanders AE, Sheats RD, Brame JL. Patient Response to Sleep Apnea Screening in a Dental Practice, Journal of Public Health Dentistry. 2016 Dec; 77(1): 13-20. Doi: 10.1111/jphd.12165. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 27335269.
Essick G, Parker J, Spencer J, Blank A. Part II: Introduction to Sleep-Disordered Breathing, Inside Dental Technology, July 2016 Issue: https://idt.cdeworld.com/courses/5014.
Essick G, Parker J, Spencer J, Blank A. Part I: Introduction to Sleep-Disordered Breathing, Inside Dental Technology, Feb 2016 Issue: https://idt.cdeworld.com/courses/4989.
Sanders AE, Akinkugbe AA, Slade GD, Essick GK. Tooth loss and obstructive sleep apnea signs and symptoms in the US population. Sleep Breath. 2016 Sep; 20(3): 1095-102. PubMed PMID: 26779902.
Minichbauer BC, Sheats RD, Wilder RS, Phillips CL, Essick GK. Sleep medicine content in dental hygiene education, Journal of Dental Education, 2015; 79(5):484-92.
Sanders AE, Denbar MA, White J, Prehn RS, Rogers RR, Pardue T, Schweizer M, Essick GK. Dental Clinicians’ Observations of Combination Therapy in PAP-Intolerant Patients. Sleep Review Magazine, 2015; 16(4):18-21. URL http://www.sleepreviewmag.com/2015/03/dental-clinicians-observations-combination-therapy-pap-intolerant-patients/
Sanders AE, Essick GK, Beck JD, Cai J, Beaver S, Finlayson TL, Zee PC, Loredo JS, Ramos AR, Singer RH, Jimenez MC, Barnhart JM, Redline S. Periodontitis and Sleep Disordered Breathing in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Sleep, 2015; 38(8):1195-1203.
Fetner M, Cascio C, Essick G. Oral appliance therapy of a severly autistic patient: A case report, Journal of Pediatric Dentistry, 2014; 36:499-501.
Sheats RD, Essick GK. Sleep medicine education in US and Canadian dental schools: A report of the inaugural dental educators conference at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry, Journal of Dental Sleep Medicine, Journal of Dental Sleep Medicine, 2014; 1:53-65.
Scherr SC, Dort LC, Almeida FR, Bennett KM, Blumenstock NT, Demko BG, Essick GK, Katz SG, McLornan PM, Phillips KS, Prehn RS, Rogers RR, Schell TG, Sheats RD, Sreshta FP. Definition of an effective oral appliance for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and snoring: A report of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. Journal of Dental Sleep Medicine, 2014; 1:39-51.
Essick G. ECG-based monitoring of sleep quality in chronic pain patients. Respiratory Therapy, 2013; 8(3):28-29.
Sharma S, Essick G, Schwartz D, Aronsky AJ. Sleep medicine care under one roof: A proposed model for integrating dentistry and medicine. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2013; 9(8):827-833.
Sanders AE, Essick GK, Fillingim R, Knott C, Ohrbach R, Greenspan JD, Diatchenko L, Maixner W, Dubner R, Bair E, Miller VD, Slade GD. Sleep apnea symptoms and risk of temporomandibular disorder: OPPERA cohort. Journal of Dental Research, 2013; 92: 70S-7S.
Ahmad NE, Sanders AE, Sheats R, Brame JL, Essick GK. Obstructive sleep apnea in association with periodontitis: a case-control study, Journal of Dental Hygiene, 2013; 87(4):188-199.
Denbar MA, Essick, GK, Schramm P. A case study using hybrid therapy to treat a patient with obstructive and central sleep apnea, Sleep Review, June 2012.