Questions Every Parent Should Ask Their Child's Dentist

You screen for tongue tie and restricted frenum function? How about airway and breathing? What is your approach to early orthodontics? Some people say, "Oh no, wait till all the adult teeth come in." That is way too late. We wanna intervene as early as possible and work with the growth that kids have. And then do you look for signs of sleep disorder breathing? For adults too, you'd be surprised how many of our patients who take home the home sleep test find, "Oh my gosh, I had no idea I was only, that I was waking up like 27 times an hour and that my oxygen dropped down to 88%." Like, these are things that we see on a routine basis. It's very important. What materials are you using in these sealants and in these fillings? We do have, uh, we don't really recommend sealants for patients, for kids, especially because of the materials that are in them, the microplastics. And sometimes they will release bisphenol A, which is, um, an estrogenic compound. We will do something different, but you definitely wanna make sure what's in them. Uh, and then do you collaborate with any ENTs or myofunctional therapists? This is super important. We see if we have a tonsil that's closing closing the airway, the— they're growing together, or if we see inflammation in the ears or an inflamed eardrum, we definitely wanna be able to refer that patient to ENT or back to their primary care person if that's more appropriate. And then what does my child's bite development look like right now? Hey, do they have a crossbite? What's going on? Are you even looking? These are things that are really important at all ages of adult— from birth to adulthood to look at the bite because that is the way that teeth stay healthy.