Ep 347: Airway First: The Pediatric Dentist’s Essential Role in Treating Tongue Ties and Growth Issues

Ep 347: Airway First: The Pediatric Dentist’s Essential Role in Treating Tongue Ties and Growth Issues

In this episode, Hallie Bulkin welcomes special guest Dr. Anita Gouri, a board-certified pediatric dentist, to dive deep into the critical, often-missed connection between pediatric dentistry and a child’s overall airway health and development.

Dr. Gouri shares her personal journey into airway and tissue-focused dentistry, motivated by her own daughter’s and nephew’s feeding and developmental challenges due to undiagnosed tongue ties. Hallie and Dr. Gouri discuss how oral restrictions impact feeding, sleep, and speech , and why they are both passionate advocates for early, proactive intervention.

They emphasize the absolute necessity of a multidisciplinary approach, stressing that therapy (SLP, OT, IBCLC, etc.) is optimal before and after a tongue tie release for the best outcomes and to avoid reattachment or unresolved symptoms. The conversation extends to older children, discussing the importance of an airway evaluation before prescribing ADHD medications and the dramatic life-changing results of early palatal expansion to open the airway.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✔️ Dr. Gouri’s personal experience discovering her daughter’s tongue tie at age 7, long after dealing with feeding issues, colic, and difficulty eating non-pureed foods.

✔️ Why pre- and post-operative therapy (like with an SLP, OT, or IBCLC) is 100% crucial for optimal outcomes following a tongue tie release.

✔️ The importance of getting an airway evaluation before putting children on ADHD medication.

✔️ Key signs of pediatric airway issues during sleep, including mouth breathing , tossing/turning/restless sleep , and the often-missed red flag of hyperextension of the neck.

✔️ The dramatic benefits of early palatal expansion (as early as 3 or 4 years old) to open the airway, often resolving issues like chronic infections (like croup) and snoring , even if the child does not have a crossbite.

✔️ How simple strategies like sleep hygiene (removing dust mite harbingers like stuffed animals and blankets) and dietary changes (like kicking gluten) can reduce inflammation and improve breathing.

✔️ Why a “quick snip” of a tongue tie may not address the entire posterior tie, which can lead to later issues like speech problems.

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