The dental office is the perfect place to be screening for oral dysfunction, airway problems, and sleep disorders. For the most part, we don’t have to do anything differently, we just need to know what we are looking for!

Many small things like noticing your mirror excessively fogging while working, noticing that the patient can’t control their tongue well, or that they struggle with radiographs, are actually warning signs of poor oral function and potentially airway concerns.

Using this form, if you notice warning signs during the dental visit, you can check off items that you noticed, have the patient fill out a short self assessment and write your recommendations for them to move forward with.

Dental appointments are already packed with so much to do and it can feel overwhelming to add one more thing. Even if you don’t have the time to fully educate patients on all of the implications of poor oral function, a form like this can plant the seed for the patient. This form needs very limited writing, you just go down the list and check off all that apply. This helps speed up the process, once you get the hang of what you are looking for it only adds a few extra minutes. A few minutes to potentially change your patients life is worth it!

If this is your first experience looking into oral function and airway risk factors, some of these items may be difficult for you to look for. I will be putting together instructional videos on how to implement screenings easily into the dental appointment. I will also share exactly what you are looking for and WHY. So stay tuned!