Meet Dr. Erica Zolnierczyk, DMD

Why Airway-Focused Dentistry

I came to airway-focused dentistry the long way around — through being a patient first.

My first round of orthodontics as a teenager left my airway less than optimal. I just didn’t know it at the time. What I knew, years later in my early thirties, was that I had TMJ pain, headaches, and breathing that never quite felt efficient. I’d built a successful general practice, but I had a body that wasn’t working the way I wanted it to.

I found Dr. Ed Lipskis, DDS, MS, an airway-focused orthodontist whose course at The Centre for Integrative Orthodontics had been re-shaping how dentists evaluate adult patients for years. My husband and I both became his patients, and we both expanded our palates as adults.

Most adults are told their palate is fixed for life — that what wasn’t expanded as a child stays narrow forever. My husband and I are living proof that isn’t true. The change was real for both of us — less jaw tension, clearer breathing, better sleep — and it shaped how I evaluate every adult patient who sits in my chair wondering whether it’s too late.

I started recognizing the same patterns in my own practice: ground-down molars in thirty-year-olds, jaw tension in people who didn’t grind their teeth, kids with crowded arches and dark circles under their eyes whose parents assumed it was screen time. I went deeper into the training, then into Dr. Soroush Zaghi’s functional frenuloplasty work at The Breathe Institute in Los Angeles, then into infant tongue-tie work shadowing Dr. Bobak Ghaheri, an ENT in Portland, Oregon widely respected for his work with breastfeeding-related tongue ties.

That’s the lens I bring to every patient who sits in my chair: dental care that pays attention to how well you breathe, sleep, and recover — not just how your teeth look. It’s the kind of airway evaluation families travel to Orland Park from across Chicago for.

Much of how I practice lines up with what patients describe as holistic or biologically-minded dentistry. I don’t place mercury fillings, and I work with mercury-free materials. My focus is on preserving natural tooth structure, considering how the mouth connects to the whole body and the airway, and giving people honest options rather than a one-size-fits-all plan. I’m not chasing a label; I just practice the way I’d want my own family cared for.

It’s also why this practice is called Inspire Dental Wellness. Inspirare is Latin for to breathe. The name is the mission.

Education & Training

Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) — Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine, 2011

Bachelor of Science in Biology, Cum Laude — Loyola University Chicago

Clinical Experience Highlights

• Performing frenectomies since 2015 — across infants, children, and adults. By the time Dr. Erica founded Inspire Dental Wellness as her own practice, she had already been doing frenectomies for several years. Several hundred patients have been treated since.
• Founder of Inspire Dental Wellness — built around airway-centered care from day one.

Specialized Training

• Airway-Focused Orthodontics under Dr. Ed Lipskis, DDS, MS at The Centre for Integrative Orthodontics in Saint Charles, Illinois — annual coursework on airway evaluation, palate development, sleep-disordered breathing, and pediatric facial growth. Dr. Lipskis has been running the course since 2018 and formerly taught at Loyola University’s School of Dentistry.
• Functional Frenuloplasty for Adults with Dr. Soroush Zaghi at The Breathe Institute in Los Angeles — adult tongue tie release technique, post-release rehabilitation, and the airway-frenectomy connection.
• Infant Tongue Tie & Breastfeeding Support — shadowing Dr. Bobak Ghaheri, a Portland, Oregon ENT widely respected for his work on infant tongue-tie release and breastfeeding outcomes.
• Pediatric Airway Dentistry — American Dental Association coursework on optimizing pediatric airway evaluation in routine dental practice.
• Sleep Apnea Screening & Oral Appliance Therapy — multi-year coursework at T&S International / T&S Therapy Centre International, including occlusion, anatomy, and sleep apnea fundamentals.
• TOTS (Tethered Oral Tissues) Training — Chicago-based clinical training on tongue and lip tie identification and management across age groups.

Professional Memberships

Dr. Erica is an active member of several organizations that shape best practices in dental care, orthodontics, and craniofacial health:

These memberships reflect Dr. Erica’s commitment to staying engaged with leading dental experts and continuing-education networks across airway-focused care, orthodontics, laser dentistry, and craniofacial health.