FACING FORWARD: A NEW MOVEMENT WITH A DOUBLE MEANING
Dr. Eyal Botzer, DMD; Dr. Hadas Katz-Sagi, DMD; Dr. Barry Raphael, DMD

From Collaboration to Community: The Face Forward Story

Meet Drs. Eyal Botzer and Hadas Katz-Sagi, Israeli pediatric dentists, and their mentor, Dr. Barry Raphael, a New Jersey orthodontist.

What began with mentorship, shared ideas, and a commitment to improving children’s airway, sleep, and breathing health has grown into Face Forward—a thriving interdisciplinary community bringing together practitioners from multiple professions throughout Israel. In November, that community will gather hundreds of professionals for its rapidly growing multidisciplinary conference.

How did it happen? And could it happen in your community?

Join us as Eyal, Hadas, and Barry share the Face Forward story—from the first conversations and relationships to building an interdisciplinary network committed to better care for children.

Their experience demonstrates something at the heart of the AAPMD mission: meaningful change doesn’t have to begin with a large organization. It can begin with a few committed practitioners who connect, collaborate, and bring others into the conversation.

Face Forward reflects the spirit of the AAPMD LIAISONS—local communities where dentists, physicians, therapists, hygienists, myofunctional therapists, sleep professionals, and other healthcare providers learn from one another, develop referral relationships, and work together to recognize and address airway, sleep, and breathing problems.

Come for the story. Leave with a challenge.

Could you bring together five or ten like-minded professionals in your community?

Could you help create a local network where practitioners See More, Know More, and Do More for their patients?

Could your community become the next Face Forward?

Join us to be inspired—and then work with AAPMD to start or grow a LIAISON community where you live.

Think globally. Connect locally. Collaborate for better care.

Dr. Eyal Botzer, DMD + Co-Founder of Face Forward, is an Israeli pediatric dentist specializing in infants and children with craniofacial anomalies, tongue-tie, and oral dysfunction. He has more than 25 years of experience in tongue-tie research and treatment and established the multidisciplinary Tongue-Tie and Breastfeeding Center at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. Dr. Botzer is also a co-author, educator, and one of the founders of Face Forward — creating a community, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration around oral function, airway, sleep, and breathing.

Dr. Hadas Katz-Sagi, DMD + Co-Founder of Face Forward,  is an Israeli pediatric dentist whose work focuses on early intervention, oral function, breathing, craniofacial growth, and child development. She is the founder of PELE PLUS, an interdisciplinary center based on the principle that oral function is integral to a child’s overall health. Dr. Katz-Sagi is also a co-founder of Face Forward, a multidisciplinary community bringing healthcare professionals together to promote collaboration and more integrated care for children.

Dr. Barry Raphael, DMD, is a New Jersey orthodontist with more than 40 years of experience with a longtime focus on early treatment, myofunctional orthodontics, and airway-centered disorders. He founded The Airway Collaborative and developed the first graduate program in Myofunctional Orthodontics at Mt. Sinai. A nationally and internationally recognized educator, Dr. Raphael has been an important mentor in the development of Face Forward and its interdisciplinary approach to airway health and collaborative care.

1 CE credit available to AAPMD members