Do not ask your Instructor if you missed anything important when you were absent. Instructors work diligently to design their coursework, so asking if any of that content was important can be considered rude or dismissive of their hard work. Instead ask if missed anything that was not included on the course schedule.
When absent students should avoid asking instructors if anything important was missed and instead politely ask whether there was anything not listed on the course schedule that they should review.