TIP #134 – Empowering & Educating Parents on Breathing & Growth with Dr Shereen Lim

Welcome to What I Wish I Knew by Dental Head Start. This is a podcast where we learn from people that have been there, made the mistakes, learnt the lessons and have developed into the accomplished dental professionals they are today. It’s your weekly mentoring session. Hosted by Dr Erica Hwin It’s common practice nowadays to encourage parents to bring their children in early to familiarise themselves with the dental appointment. But beyond chair rides, gloved animals and triplex tickles, what else can we do to help empower parents during these appointments?  This is Part 3 of our series with Dr Shereen Lim on Sleep Disordered Breathing and Airway Health in young children. If you haven’t already be sure to check out Part 1 (TIP #125 – Childhood Bruxism: A Case Study) and Part 2 (TIP #128 – Teeth, Tongues & Tonsils) In this episode, we talk about the different stages of growth in children and the things we can help educate parents on to look out for including feeding, thumb sucking and dummy use.  Dr Shereen Lim Shereen Lim is an Australia-based dentist with a post graduate diploma in dental sleep medicine from the University of Western Australia. She was one of Australia’s first handful of dentists to obtain a qualification in dental sleep medicine. She has been involved in managing snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea for over a decade and has seen the physical, developmental, mental, and emotional problems that are often associated with these breathing disturbances throughout the lifespan. Her mission is to highlight root causes and promote airway health, or a shift from managing disease and symptoms towards ensuring healthy nasal breathing and good airway development from infancy. She works in private practice and has a special focus on unlocking greater health and wellness through addressing tongue ties, oral dysfunction (during infant feeding, swallowing, breathing, chewing, and speech), and guiding good jaw development during childhood. Find Dr Shereen Lim’s book Breath