Little Smiles, Big Care: Expert Tips on Kids' Dental Health with Dr. Lisa Lee
In this episode of Dentistry for Kidz, we’re thrilled to welcome Dr. Lisa Lee, the founder of Sugar Loft Children's Dentistry! Dr. Lee brings a wealth of experience and a passion for pediatric dental care, and she’s here to answer some of the most common questions parents have about their kids' oral health. From when those first baby teeth will appear to how to handle dental emergencies, Dr. Lee covers it all.
We go over topics like why baby teeth are so important, tips for home care for infants, and how to handle situations like knocked-out teeth or nighttime grinding. Dr. Lee also shares her insights on thumb-sucking, mouthguards for young athletes, and what parents should know about sports drinks, xylitol, and even tongue piercings.
Whether you're a new parent or have older kids, this episode is packed with practical advice to help keep those smiles healthy and bright. Join us for an informative, fun conversation that makes dental care easy to understand and apply.
About the Guest:
Dr. Lee was born in Virginia and raised in North Carolina where she attended University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill. After graduating with honors in 1993, she began her dental training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine. Following graduation in 2001, she completed a residency in Advanced Education in General Dentistry at the University of California at San Francisco.
Because of her love for children she furthered her dental education at Maimonides Medical Center in New York by completing a two-year pediatric dental residency program to become a specialist in pediatric dentistry. Since that time she has been in private practice in New York City and over the last 15 years in Atlanta.
Dr. Lee enjoys being an active member of her community and often volunteers in public health educational programs. In her free time, Dr Lee enjoys music, traveling, reading and movies. She resides in Suwanee with her husband, who is an internal medicine physician, and 2 children. She is an active member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, American Dental Association, and the Georgia Dental Association.
About the Hosts:
Angelina Huang, Founder
Angelia is a nationally top ranked junior golfer at her junior high year. Angelina is also ranked number one academically among seven hundred students at Clark High School, Nevada. Angelina hopes to play college golf and pursue a career in the medical field or dentistry. Her passion is Neuroscience and Statistics. Angelina has been travelling around the country competing against the best junior golfers in the world since age of seven. She is also the Amazon published author, “I Want to Play College Golf”. Since Year 2021, Angelina and Cameron have donated over $17,000 their book proceeds back to the community for the underserved family and patients who are in need of cancer treatment. Aside from daily golf practices and school, she enjoys listening to music and watching chilling crime shows.
Cameron Huang, Founder
Cameron is also a nationally top ranked junior golfer at her sophomore year. Cameron is ranked top 5% academically among eight hundred students at Clark High School, Nevada. Cameron also hopes to play college golf and pursue a career as an orthodontist in the future. Cameron is the coauthor of “I Want to Play College Golf” with Angelina, and they have donated over $17,000 their book proceeds back to the community for the underserved family and patients who are in need of cancer treatment. When Cameron isn't on the green or studying, she's enjoying her free time watching K-drama and studying makeup and skincare with her friends.
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Transcript
Welcome to the Dentistry for Kidz podcast. We are Angelina and Cameron and we love candy. Do you all love candy? We've learned how to enjoy all the candy we want without getting cavities or getting in trouble with our dentist. Want to learn our magic join us discover how to enjoy sweets and have nice, bright, clean, shiny, white teeth. Let's go.
Cameron Huang:Hi everyone. I'm your host, Cameron Huang, and welcome back to our podcast, dentistry for kids. Today. We're thrilled to have the kids dentist, Dr Lisa Lee, the founder of sugar loft children's dentistry. Dr Lee's journey began in Virginia and North Carolina, where she attended UNC Chapel Hill. She graduated with honors and continued her dental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, then completed a residency in general dentistry at UC San Francisco. But Dr Lee's passion for helping kids led her to specialize in pediatric dentistry with a residency in New York. For over 15 years, she's been dedicated to brightening smiles in Atlanta and actively volunteers in Public Health Education. Dr Lee loves music, reading and traveling, and lives with her husband and two beautiful children. Dr Lee, welcome to the dentistry for kids podcast. We're so happy to have you.
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: Oh, thank you.
Cameron Huang:And our first question today is, when should parents expect their baby's first teeth to start coming in? And what signs can they look out for?
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: Usually comes in anywhere from six months to eight months, their front their their first tooth, and then if they're a little bit delayed, which everyone is, every child is different. There's like, a range. So sometimes they can get them a little bit later than that, but yeah, typically they get their two bottom teeth in six months.
Cameron Huang:And why are those first baby teeth so important, even though they'll eventually fall out? And do they play any role in a child's development?
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: Well, as they start to chew food. And, you know, introduce solids. They do need that to, you know, chew and, yeah, so, yeah, it does. It is plays an important role, just for their nutrition, to have proper nutrition and eating. And, you know, as as they're developing, they get to introduce more and more solids. The first, first in teeth are the incisors. So they usually, typically start, you know, chewing with those.
Cameron Huang:And since we're talking about nutrition, we know that sugar, stuff like that's not recommended for kids. So do you have any alternatives that you recommend, any food that you particularly like.
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: Um, I know it's not always favorite, but just, you know, lots of healthy vegetables and fruits. I always tell the parents, just, you know, I know, like these days, the kids tend to, you know, get a lot of sweets at school, or, you know, their friends and candy. So it's if it's not in the home, they can't eat it. So always just say, leave it at the grocery
Cameron Huang:store. And is there anything parents can do at home to take care of their children's oral health before those first teeth appear?
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: Um, just to kind of get in the routine, I usually recommend just using, like a, like a, like a wet glass or soft, you know, washcloths while they're doing, giving them their bath, they can just kind of run, you know, running across their guns to kind of clean their mouth.
Cameron Huang:And if a child, let's say they they're playing a sport and they accidentally knock out their permanent tooth. What's the best course of action for the parents, and is there any way to save the tooth?
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: Yeah, you want to get in ASAP to the dentist. I mean, that is like a true dental emergency. So I recommend, you know, putting if you can just keep it in saliva. Sometimes they can just keep it in the vestibule of their lower jaw, like between the tooth and the and the cheek, until they can get to a dentist, or in milk when there's also, you know, like a solution that you can buy also to kind of keep it in there. That's for, you know, if you're, like, really prepared, yeah, for a false teeth, but that is, yeah, a true dental emergency you want to get in as soon as possible. Or you can just risk losing the tooth completely. The sooner you get in, the better of, you know, re implanting into the into the socket and saving the tooth. And
Cameron Huang:this one's more of a personal question, but do you have any preference when it comes to the order in which you brush floss or use rinse?
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: Oh, I mean, it doesn't really matter, but I usually, um, I usually brush floss and then do the do the rinse. Yes, but it really doesn't matter, as long as, as long as, yeah,
Cameron Huang:and we know that teeth grinding at night can be a concern for some kids, and what might cause this, and is there anything that can help prevent it?
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: Um, no, that it's it. They the kids. They do. A lot of young kids do grind, but it's usually not an issue, unless when the permanent tooth comes in and you see, you know lots of signs of where we can do mouth guards, but yeah, you just have to be careful, because sometimes when you do the night guard, it can restrict the growth of their job. So a lot of times young kids, when they do grind. I usually tell them not to worry too much. They do usually grow out of it so you can talk to their dentist, you know, for further, but yeah, it's very common.
Cameron Huang:And then sometimes at night, we know snoring is common, but it can also be a sign of something else going on. Is that anything to be concerned about?
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: Sometimes just to know if they're snoring a lot, and you feel like it's in impacting their sleep, you can have them get a, you know, take get it checked out by the pediatrician, if their adenoids are really large, if they have a lot of allergies, sometimes that affects the snoring. So it's best to kind of work in in conjunction with the pediatrician as well, to look at their airway and see if there's anything more you know underlying serious thing going on.
Cameron Huang:But and then this is more for parents who has kids who play sports. Is there anything that they should know about mouth guards, and is there any types of material or types?
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: Yeah, a lot of pediatric dentists, they can make you mouth guards, because a lot of the sports are, like contact sports, like football and basketball. They do recommend it. Sometimes they you can also just get the boiling bites, you know, you know, at the sports store or a lot of places have it, but if you prefer something more comfortable, that your pediatricians can make you one as well,
Cameron Huang:and along the same mind, for sports, sports drinks are very popular among active kids adults. But do you think they're safe for teeth? And is there any alternatives that you would recommend instead for young athletes,
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: the sports drinks? Yeah, they are. You know, I know a lot of coaches. They recommend that because it helps them to stay, you know, more hydrated. But the downside is that it does. It is, you know, has a lot of sugar in it, so then they're more prone to getting cavities. So I would just say, you know, if you need to drink it, drink it. But then, you know, as soon as you get home, make sure you're or if you're there, you can just rinse with water, drink water afterwards, and just make sure you're brushing and flossing. And
Cameron Huang:then for our last question, again, this one's personal. What's your favorite flavor of toothpaste, and then you the most popular one among kids. You would say
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: among kids. Honestly, they, I just recommend whatever. We'll get too fresh. I mean, toothpaste is toothpaste. So like, yeah, if they some of some parents want more natural, you know, I recommend the toms of Maine, and then under three, there's, like the fluoride free ones. But I don't really have like a, like, a preference or anything, and it's just, yeah, whatever. I mean, I use crest, but, you know, whatever. Yeah, and then,
Cameron Huang:just in general, for all ages, how do you feel about charcoal toothpaste? Is that a yes or a no from you?
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: I, I know, I know. I have a lot of parents asking about that. I just have not never, yeah, used that before, but, um, I have no, yeah, I don't really know, really Yeah, research on that so, but yeah, I just like the Yeah, tried and true toothpaste.
Cameron Huang:And then for lastly, to wrap it up, if you could say, like one thing to parents who want to maintain and help grow their kids oral health. What would you say? Your most important advice?
Cameron Huang:Dr. Lisa Lee: Just instill early habits early on, so like going to the dentist every six months, just making it a routine at home. You know, I know a lot of times that when they're little, they get resistant. They don't want to brush their teeth, they don't want to floss. They just, if you start doing those, instilling those habits early on, I think they'll have it'll be easier for them to just kind of, you know, start doing it on their own as they're older, and just taking ownership of their of their teeth. Huh,
Cameron Huang:perfect. And so that's all I have for you today. Thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate it.
Angelina Huang:Thank you for listening to the Dentistry for Kidz podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share with a family member or friend. Make sure to like and subscribe to our channel too. Help us complete our mission to see bright smiles from all around the world. Thank you.
