TOTS, lasers, airway and pediatric dentistry

Title : TOTS, lasers, airway and pediatric dentistry

Abstract:

This presentation reviews the background and significance of tethered oral tissues and shows numerous case studies of pediatric patients treated with a combination of frenectomies, therapy, and bodywork to help with feeding, speech, sleep, breathing, growth and development, dental health and more. Cases include infants, children, adolescents and teenagers and were performed using various levels of sedation specific to what was required to safely and successfully accomplish the procedure in each individual patient. Pre-op and post-op histories are reviewed, including collaboration with therapists as needed based on each patient's individual needs.

Audience Take Away:

• Identify tethered oral tissues, including lip ties, buccal ties, tongue ties, and Eiffel Tower ties in infant, toddler, and adolescent patients.
• Correlate the relationship between soft tissue and their effects on feeding, speech, breathing, sleep, growth and development, dental health and more.
• Differentiate between normal versus restrictive frenums and understand the indications for and ideal timing to release.
• Highlight the importance of collaboration with a multidisciplinary team to ensure the best surgical outcomes and improvement of preoperative symptoms.
• Raise awareness of the need for more education and research on this subject both locally, nationally and internationally.

Biography:

Dr. Brynn Leroux is a graduate of Louisiana State University School of Dentistry and the Pediatric Dental Residency Program at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Leroux is a partner in Associates in Pediatric Dentistry, a group practice in Louisiana, USA with 4 locations serving the Greater Baton Rouge area. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Board of Laser Surgery. After being personally affected by tongue tie and sleep disordered breathing, Dr. Leroux has taken a special interest in tethered oral tissues, airway centered dentistry, sleep medicine, and interceptive orthodontics. She is a TOTS trained professional, an active member and speaker of the American Laser Study Club, and a founding member of the International Consortium of Oral Ankylofrenula Professionals (ICAP), in which she currently serves on the Board of Directors. She evaluates her patients for signs and symptoms of tethered oral tissues and sleep disordered breathing and provides laser lip, buccal, and tongue tie revisions from birth through adulthood using the Light Scalpel CO2 laser.