As a graduate of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry in 1989, Dr. Hockel is a general dentist in private practice with a focus on orthodontics that aims to prevent or treat airway problems like sleep apnea. He aims for more permanent solutions to Airway-Friendly Smiles, going beyond the dental oral appliance approach, often having to reverse previous orthodontic treatments. He has lectured nationally and internationally on topics of facial growth guidance, orthotropics, and airway orthodontics, and is a board member and an orthodontic instructor for the Academy of Airway and Gnathologic Orthopedics (AAGO), the co-founder of the Team Airway Study Club, a co-founder and board member of the North American Association of Facial Orthotropics, and Founder and Director of the Airway Orthodontics Mini-Residency.