A team of specialists, working as one.
BreatheWell Institute is a multidisciplinary airway and quality-of-life center founded on the conviction that complex airway disease deserves coordinated care — not a series of disconnected referrals across town.
The way you breathe shapes everything else.
How you breathe shapes how you sleep, grow, heal, focus, and feel. We treat the cause — the anatomy, the muscles, the habits, the metabolism — not just the symptom in front of us.
Our team includes an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, an airway-focused orthodontist, certified myofunctional therapists, and a wellness nursing team. Each specialty contributes to your evaluation. Each plan is built collaboratively, refined together, and delivered as a coordinated whole.
Five specialties. One purpose.
Dr. William E. Graves
DMD · Founder & Surgical Director
Dr. William Graves is the founder and surgical director of BreatheWell Institute. As a board-eligible oral and maxillofacial surgeon, he has built his practice around the recognition that most airway and craniofacial problems are not isolated — they are interrelated, multidisciplinary, and often miss diagnosis until adulthood.
His surgical training and continuing focus span the full spectrum of airway-relevant procedures: orthognathic (jaw) surgery, tongue and lip tie release, tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, frenectomy, oral pathology, and the airway-focused planning that precedes them. He treats infants, children, teens, and adults across the Texas Panhandle and beyond, and serves as founder of Full Smile Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that provides surgical care to underserved patients on international mission trips.
His vision for BreatheWell is straightforward: bring the specialists a patient would otherwise need to find across three towns into a single, coordinated team — and treat the cause of the problem, not just the symptom in front of them.
Credentials & Background
- Board-eligible, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
- Founder, BreatheWell Institute
- Founder, Full Smile Foundation (501(c)(3))
- Practicing oral surgeon, Texas Panhandle
- Member, American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons
- Areas of focus: airway, craniofacial, orthognathic surgery
Dr. Rouzbeh Kordestani
MD, MPH · Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Dr. Rouzbeh Kordestani is a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon who has performed more than 8,000 cases over a career spanning two decades. He is a former Chief Fellow of the University of Oklahoma Plastic Surgery Division, a former Chief of Surgery at Northwest Texas Healthcare System, and a former Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
His clinical focus at BreatheWell is the surgical anatomy of the upper airway: septoplasty and functional rhinoplasty for obstructed nasal breathing, turbinate reduction, submental liposuction, and the reconstructive procedures that complete a comprehensive airway plan. He brings to the team an academic surgeon's discipline, a microsurgeon's precision, and a published research history covering craniofacial development, reconstructive microsurgery, and outcomes after traumatic injury.
Patients describe him with notable consistency — thorough, calm, deeply respectful of their concerns, and committed to explaining every option before recommending one. He speaks English, Persian, and French.
Credentials & Background
- MD, Tulane University School of Medicine, 1994
- MPH, Tulane University School of Public Health, 1992
- BA, Genetics, University of California, Berkeley, 1988
- Plastic Surgery Residency, Univ. of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
- General Surgery Residency, Univ. of California, San Francisco
- Former Chief of Surgery, Northwest Texas Healthcare System
- Former Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Texas Tech
- Member, American Society of Plastic Surgeons
- Published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and other peer-reviewed journals
- Languages: English, Persian, French
Dr. Naurine Shah
BDS, MS · Certified Orofacial Myologist
Dr. Naurine Shah is a certified orofacial myologist and orthodontist with more than 15 years of experience in airway orthodontics and myofunctional therapy. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, she received her Bachelor of Dental Surgery from Baqai University in Karachi, Pakistan, and completed her postgraduate degree in orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Her clinical philosophy is rooted in cause-based treatment. After observing how often traditional orthodontic outcomes relapsed when underlying muscle and airway dysfunction was left untreated, she devoted her career to integrating myofunctional therapy, palatal expansion, tongue-tie management, and orthodontics into a single, coherent program. Her patients learn to eat, drink, breathe, swallow, and sleep correctly — and the orthodontic outcome lasts because the cause has been addressed.
Dr. Shah has lectured on orofacial myology in the United States and Canada for more than twelve years. She has served on the board of directors of the International Association of Orofacial Myology and has mentored speech-language pathologists and dental hygienists in her field. She is a member of the Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy, the American Dental Association, and the American Association of Orthodontists.
Credentials & Background
- BDS, Baqai University, Karachi, Pakistan
- MS, Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Certified Orofacial Myologist
- 15+ years in airway orthodontics & myofunctional therapy
- Former board of directors, International Association of Orofacial Myology
- Member, Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy
- Member, American Dental Association
- Member, American Association of Orthodontists
- Lecturer on orofacial myology, U.S. & Canada
Orofacial Myology Team
Certified Orofacial Myologists
Our myofunctional therapists are credentialed clinicians who guide patients through structured neuromuscular retraining of the tongue, lips, jaw, and breathing pattern. Working alongside Dr. Shah and the surgical team, our therapists deliver the daily, repeatable exercises that turn surgical and orthodontic results into lasting outcomes.
Myofunctional therapy is the connective tissue between every other treatment in our program. After tongue-tie release, it teaches the tongue where to live. After palatal expansion, it teaches the swallow how to use the new space. After orthognathic surgery, it secures the airway gain. For patients with mouth breathing, snoring, tongue thrust, or chronic forward head posture, it is often the only intervention needed.
Programs are tailored to age and goal. A typical course runs 10 to 12 sessions over three to four months, with home exercises designed to take less than 10 minutes a day. Children, teens, and adults are seen individually with a plan built around their stage of development.
Credentials & Background
- Certified Orofacial Myologists (COM)
- Trained in pediatric, adolescent, and adult therapy
- Pre- and post-operative protocols for tongue and lip tie release
- Tongue thrust, mouth breathing, drooling, and swallow retraining
- Sleep-disordered breathing therapy support
- Coordinated care with orthodontics, ENT, and surgical teams
Lanita Blackwell, RN
Registered Nurse · Wellness & Weight Loss
Lanita Blackwell, RN, leads BreatheWell's wellness and weight loss programs. Her clinical career began in family medicine, where she cared for patients across the full spectrum of primary care, then advanced into oral and maxillofacial surgery as a sedation nurse responsible for IV moderate sedation and patient monitoring across thousands of surgical cases. That dual background — primary care fluency paired with surgical-discipline rigor — defines how she practices.
At BreatheWell, Lanita oversees medical weight loss with GLP-1 medications (semaglutide and tirzepatide), nutrition counseling, metabolic optimization, wellness IV therapy, and the ongoing follow-up that turns short-term progress into durable change. She works in coordination with the surgical and orthodontic teams because, as airway-focused clinicians know, weight, sleep apnea, nasal breathing, and energy are deeply intertwined — and improvement in one frequently unlocks improvement in the others.
Patients who work with Lanita describe a careful, no-pressure approach. She listens first, designs a plan around what is realistic for the individual, monitors closely, and adjusts as needed. Her goal is not a number on a scale but a measurable improvement in how a patient breathes, sleeps, moves, and feels day to day.
Credentials & Background
- Registered Nurse, Texas
- Background: family medicine and primary care
- Specialty experience: IV sedation in oral & maxillofacial surgery
- Medical weight loss with GLP-1 (semaglutide, tirzepatide)
- Nutrition counseling and metabolic optimization
- Wellness IV therapy
- Coordinated airway, sleep, and weight loss follow-up
We work with the people already on your team.
Airway disease rarely begins in one office. We coordinate with the providers who already know your child or you.
Pediatricians & family doctors
We share imaging, sleep study results, and airway findings with the primary care team that referred us. Your pediatrician stays in the loop.
Dentists & pediatric dentists
The dentist who first noticed the tongue tie or the narrow palate stays a partner in the work, with shared records and coordinated timing.
Speech-language pathologists
SLPs working on articulation, feeding, and oral motor skills coordinate directly with our myofunctional therapists.
Lactation consultants
Infant tongue and lip tie evaluation often begins with an IBCLC. We work directly with consultants on coordinated infant care.
Sleep medicine physicians
Take-home sleep studies are read by board-certified sleep specialists. Findings drive the surgical and functional plan.
ENT & allergy specialists
For chronic congestion, allergies, or complex sinus disease, we partner with regional otolaryngologists and allergists.