and you want to learn more about them. Anyone who passes the screening “test” is then asked to complete and sign an application (if that hasn’t been done yet) and moves on to an actual interview. When interviewing: • Prepare by reviewing the application and developing questions (i.e. don’t shoot from the hip!) • Avoid yes/no questions • Ensure that 60% of the questions you ask are behavioralbased questions • Focus on “fit” over experience • Interview multiple times with multiple people (ideally) • Avoid snap judgments, biases and stereotyping • Allow the candidate to do most of the talking For the top one to two candidates create opportunities to
“unmask” them to get a deeper idea of what they’re like. This could be something like taking them to lunch, which affords an opportunity to see and experience this person and how he or she interact with servers (respectfully or not) and other people. This might prove to be the best $25 you ever spent. Incorporating the following round out the recruiting and hiring process: skills assessments, job match personality assessment, and reference and background checking – all of which are valuable components to increase success and minimize risks. Hopefully, this information and these suggestions will lead to a great success moving forward as we being to put COVID-19 in the rearview mirror. Tim Twig Today’s FDA August 2021
PRACTICE TONGUE AND LIP TIES You hear it from parents all the time. “My kid is the pickiest eater,” “We tried to breastfeed, but gave up after a month of issues,” “He’s been in speech therapy for four years.” Many of these complaints fall on deaf ears. The basis for many of these growth and development woes we hear about stem from a functional issue in the mouth, mostly due to restrictions of the tongue and/or lips. If the tongue cannot rest in the palate which is the normal resting position, you’ll see constricted upper arches and airways as well. As experts of oral health, dentists should be on the forefront of addressing these issues. Unfortunately, tethered oral tissue (TOTs) training is absent in most dental school curriculums. The subject isn’t taught even in pediatric residencies and if it is, proper diagnosis and treatment is not. Many of the above issues stem from TOTs namely tongue and/ or lip ties. Parents often turn to their pediatricians for advice on these issues and are told there are no “tongue ties” present or the child will grow out of it. Pediatricians unfortunately also lack the formal education needed to properly identify functional issues in the mouth. Many are only concerned if the patient can’t stick their tongue “out,” but posterior lift/function is a huge part of normal tongue function. This can be disheartening because as one “issue” passes, another can occur. Even adults with TOTs are affected as they typically have sleep, breathing, head and neck tension issues. The good news is, with the right questions and some simple exam techniques, we all can start to identify issues early on and help many patients thrive! It’s estimated that up to 30% of the population has some sort of functional restriction in the mouth. New, higher-level research is being done to turn the “fad” of tongue ties into
a legitimate issue that all dental and medical providers can learn about. Great educational resources are becoming more available to people all over. Dr Richard Baxter, a pediatric dentist who runs the Alabama Tongue Tie Center and Dr Soroush Zaghi, an ENT who runs the Breathe Institute, are leading the way in both research and education. As more is done to investigate TOTs, more providers can understand what to look for and how to properly treat those issues. Releasing these tissues can be easily done with numerous instruments, although soft tissue lasers allow for quicker, cleaner and better healing than many other options. It’s important to understand that these procedures release the tissues, but without proper function, many patients will still struggle. The procedure needs to be done with a team to help with this. For infants and moms struggling with breastfeeding, working with lactation consultants and body workers is crucial. For adolescents with speech and/or feeding issues, speech language pathologists help support the healing process and teach the patient proper function. Even adults with issues need support around their surgery, which is typically done with the help of a myofunctional therapist and body worker. When a proper assessment is done with a clean surgery and the correct support is provided, fixing TOTs issues can be lifechanging! Helping a patient speak more clearly, eat without struggles and sleep more peacefully is extremely rewarding – and with a little more training, all dentists can start asking the right questions and helping more patients daily. Dr Casey Lynn Today’s FDA August 2021
UDA Action
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