An O2 Global Airway Health Presentation: Children’s Airway – Knowledge to Action – What We Learned at the ADA’s Children’s Airway Event
Steve Carstensen, DDS; Loria Nahatis, DDS; Lauren Ballinger, DDS; Kevin Boyd, DDS
For the eighth year, the American Dental Association has sponsored an event to make a difference in children’s health and future with the Children’s Airway Event. This year, the theme was how to share our expert knowledge to help families make healthy decisions about treatment possibilities. The four speakers on this panel have been at every Airway Event and love to share their passion for the kids in their practices to help others make a difference in their communities. This discussion will summarize what each of us shared, heard, and learned in July in Chicago. Please join us with your thoughts and questions, and we will all continue to learn.
At the end of this hour, everyone will be better able to do the following:
- Identify opportunities to help families understand treatment options
- Describe the scope of need and the opportunity each of us has to make a difference
- Find pearls which their team can use to improve messaging in their practice and with other providers
Steve Carstensen, DDS, Fellow, Academy of General Dentistry; Fellow, American College of Dentistry; Fellow, International College of Dentistry; Diplomate, American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine. Dr. Carstensen has treated sleep apnea and snoring in Bellevue, WA since 1998. He’s the Consultant to the ADA for sleep-related breathing disorders and heads the ADA’s Children’s Airway Initiative. He trained at UCLA’s Mini-Residency in Dental Sleep Medicine and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine. He lectures internationally and directs sleep education at the Pankey Institute, in addition to advising several sleep-related manufacturers. In 2014 he helped found Dental Sleep Practice Magazine and currently serves as Chief Dental Editor. He has written chapters for several related textbooks. In 2019, A Clinician’s Handbook for Dental Sleep Medicine, written with a co-author, was released, with a second edition published by Quintessence in 2025. The AADSM awarded him the 2023 Distinguished Service Award.
Loria Nahatis, DDS, is a board-certified pediatric dentist and co-founder of Beyond Pediatric Dentistry in Dallas, Texas. She is proud to give her young patients and their parents valuable tools that help not only with improving dental health but overall health and well-being with a collaborative approach to oral healthcare.
Lauren Ballinger, DDS, is a board-certified pediatric dentist in Western Massachusetts. She founded Good to Grow Airway Pediatric Dentistry and The Nurture Frenectomy Center, New England’s only pediatric dental practice fully dedicated to preventive orthodontics, oral function, and airway health.
Kevin Boyd, DDS, is a board-certified pediatric dentist with over 20 years’ experience delivering outstanding dental healthcare to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults with physical and/or mental disabilities, as well as other special needs. He also holds an advanced degree (M.Sc.) in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from Michigan State University where he participated in research projects related to unhealthy eating and how it contributes to tooth decay, obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.
1 CE credit available to AAPMD members