Pediatric dentistry alumnus provides expertise for silver diamine flouride workgroup

An alumnus of the School of Dentistry’s pediatric dentistry residency program is making an impact for children with a variety of needs.
Quentin Knutson, DDS ’19, Certificate in Pediatric Dentistry ’21, first discovered a passion for caring for others in a high school position as a caregiver for individuals with disabilities. “Those years as a caregiver were deeply enlightening, and my experience supporting these children and adults was life changing,” he recalled.
Knowing that he wanted to care for individuals in a health setting, Knutson explored various pathways before landing on dentistry—specifically, pediatric dentistry.
“I knew when I began my pursuit of dentistry that I wanted to deliver compassionate, high quality care to the individuals I supported as a caregiver, who taught me so much,” he said. “Pediatric dentistry residency prepared me to support patients with special health care needs, and it was clear to me that I was meant to be a pediatric dentist.”
Today, Knutson works at Apple Tree Dental, mainly with low-income families and children with special needs. He appreciates the collaborative nature of his role—which allows him to work with general dentists and dental therapists—and its flexibility in also allowing him to teach and advocate.
In his spare time, Knutson enjoys giving back to his community and doing what he can to further the profession. As a representative on the medical advisory board at the PACER Center, Knutson has the opportunity to “serve as the dental voice and resource in a room of various specialists and advocates” for children with disabilities. “Everything is connected, and recognizing these connections and appreciating different perspectives is critical in enhancing care and support for children with special health care needs.”
Recently, Knutson has had the opportunity to make a lasting impact on treatment for children, thanks to his work on silver diamine fluoride (SDF) with the American Academy of Pediatrics.
A low-cost, easy-to-use treatment, silver diamine fluoride has gained popularity as a method of managing caries. It was recently assigned a CPT code, which means physicians can bill insurance for its use. Along with other providers, researchers and leaders, Knutson was selected to create guidance on SDF’s use “to serve as a stop-gap for young patients with identified caries who face significant barriers to establishing care with a pediatric dentist.”
The opportunity was ideal for Knutson, who uses the treatment himself and teaches its application to residents. He finds the treatment particularly valuable thanks to its implications for children and families or who may face barriers to receiving care.
“Unfortunately, it’s common in my own practice for families to wait six to twelve months or longer to establish care with us,” he explained. “With additional wait time to treatment visits, it’s not uncommon that teeth originally referred for restorative treatment are, in fact, extracted due to disease progression.”
Utilizing silver diamine fluoride in the interim could help slow disease progression during that waiting period. “Ultimately, we want kids to experience less pain, infection and tooth loss while they navigate the referral process,” Knutson explained. “My hope is that SDF will find a place in unique practice settings, where it can delay caries progression in marginalized populations with complex social determinants of health.”
In addition to the potential for change Knutson sees in this process, he’s enjoyed the ability to work with professionals on complex problems and learn from their areas of expertise. “I loved learning from the perspectives of pediatricians, physicians and parent advocates while on this workgroup,” he reflected. “The most interesting consideration was identifying guidance for use of a dental material to arrest caries for providers with no access to radiographs and for whom tooth identification and diagnosis may not be routine practice.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics published the workgroup’s guidance on their website this summer.