Category: Holland Dentist

You may  think you are drinking enough to keep your body hydrated, but if your mouth feels chronically dry and sticky, you might be suffering from more than dehydration – you might be suffering from “dry mouth” or xerostomia. While dry mouth doesn’t sound dangerous, it is actually a serious issue…and a widespread one: it is estimated that over 44 million Americans deal with this problem and its side effects every day! Are you one of them? If you are, dry mouth could be causing cavities and destroying your teeth!

The Dangers of Dry Mouth

Dry mouth sufferers often don’t even notice that there is a problem until saliva flow has decreased by more than 50%. Without saliva, the acids that cause tooth decay will not be washed away. Saliva also lubricates your oral membranes, and believe it or not, contains vital minerals that aid in tooth repair. This means that by the time your saliva is reduced this significantly,the bacteria that normally reside in your mouth have had a chance to get a real foothold on your teeth and gums causing tooth decay and infection.

What Causes Dry Mouth?

Dry mouth can be cause by a wide range of things – too many to list here –  from the way you breathe to medications you take. Here are some of the more common causes:

• Dehydration

• Smoking or chewing tobacco

• Antihistamine use

• Snoring or breathing with mouth open

• Use of prescriptions to treat depression, anxiety, or pain, among others

• Diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Diabetes, Hypertension, Anemia

• Radiation or chemotherapy

What Can I Do to Fight the Problem

Watching what you eat and drink is always an important part of protecting your oral health and decreasing your risk for cavities, but it is especially important when you have dry mouth. Here are a few tips:

• Talk to your doctor about whether your prescription could be decreasing saliva flow.

• Decrease your intake of things high in sugar and acids such as soda or sport drinks.

• Stop smoking

• Drink extra water and eat crunchy fruits and vegetables.

• Try chewing Xylitol gum and drinking lots of green tea. Both of these can help kill bacteria in your mouth and lower the acidity of your saliva.

• Make sure your mouthwash does not contain sodium lauryl sulfate

• Call Dr. Huisman, and schedule a complete check up – you could have cavities that aren’t yet causing pain.

For more information about dry mouth, call your Holland dentist, Dr. Jeff Huisman, at 855.599.5584.

Do you sometimes feel more like you are sleeping with a tractor than a person? Have you found yourself sleeping in another room or on the couch because you can’t stand one more night of that loud snoring, gasping, choking and rattling? While the noise may be irritating, what you may actually be hearing  is more than noise – you may be hearing the primary symptoms of sleep apnea!

Understanding Sleep Apnea

The fact is, most people with sleep apnea are not aware that they have it. They don’t hear themselves snore and they don’t realize that they have stopped breathing during an episode. All they know is that they rarely feel rested.

Does your partner exhibit any of the following symptoms to go with his or her snoring?

●      Excessive daytime sleepiness

●      Tiredness

●      Dry mouth

●      Sore throat

●      Insomnia

●      Inability to sleep through the night

●      Restlessness during the night

●      Short term memory problems

●      High blood pressure

●      Anxiety

●      Depression

●      Diabetes

●      Memory/concentration difficulties

●      Intellectual deterioration

If your bed partner – or you!– have any of these signs and symptoms, please call our Holland Michigan dental office right away. Sleep apnea can be life threatening!

How Your Holland MI dentist Can Help

We can work with a sleep center to help you get diagnosed. Once a diagnosis is established, we can offer a great alternative to the CPAP for mild to moderate sleep apnea. Dr. Huisman has a  special oral device so small it fits in the palm of your hand – the TAP III Snore Guard. It is also a great alternative for patients who can’t tolerate their CPAP machine. For more information about our comfortable sleep apnea treatments, call your sleep apnea dentist, Dr. Jeff Huisman, at 855.599.5584.

What Our Patients Have to Say

“Who wouldn’t want a good night’s sleep? My new TAP III Snore Guard does just that for me and my spouse! With uninterrupted sleep, I feel more energetic and it helps maintain my overall health. The appliance is an easy solution (according to my husband) to an annoying problem. It was custom-made to for a perfect fit. When it’s in place, I can still close my mouth and lips around it, and adjustments are easy to keep me sleeping peacefully. It’s funny how much money we spend on things that matter only a little bit but miss something that can positively affect our entire waking day.” — Candy

Going on vacation? In addition to cameras, sunscreen, and comfortable shoes or boots, you probably have a small emergency first aid kit for minor scrapes, scratches, or headaches. But dental emergencies can happen anywhere, even if you’re nowhere near our dental office in Holland.

In addition to bandages, gauze, and some antiseptic, add a small bottle of oil of cloves. (It’s not a bad idea to keep some around the house!) It can help relieve minor tooth pain if necessary. The Department of Health and Human Services has some tips for dental first aid:

Broken or knocked out tooth – Find the tooth or tooth pieces as soon as possible and gently rinse them to remove debris. If there’s bleeding, rinse the area with warm water and apply pressure with gauze. Apply a cold compress to the cheek or jaw if there’s swelling.

If a knocked out tooth can be re-inserted, gently attempt to put it back into place. This can be the best method of saving the tooth.

Toothache or abscess – Rinse the mouth with warm salt water to remove any food debris. Do NOT place aspirin at the site of the pain; it can burn the gum tissue. If there is any swelling, place a cold compress on the side of the cheek.

Bleeding from a cut or lost tooth – A cut lip, tongue, or cheek, or even a lost baby tooth can cause bleeding. Gently clean the area with a clean wet cloth and apply pressure for about 15 minutes. You can also apply ice or a cold compress to the area. If the bleeding doesn’t stop after 15 minutes, get to a dentist or doctor as soon as possible.

Accidents can happen anywhere. A few precautions and a little preparedness will help you get back to your vacation fun as soon as possible. When you return, it’s a good idea to schedule an appointment at our dental office in Holland to have the tooth or cut examined. If necessary, we will restore your tooth with bonding, a crown, or any of the restorative or esthetic dental services we provide at Huisman Family Dentistry.

Wisdom teeth typically come in during our late teens or early 20s, when we’re hopefully gaining wisdom as we’re off to college or entering the workforce. If your wisdom teeth only come in partially or not at all, they are called partial or fully impacted wisdom teeth. Often the solution is to extract them, and at your Holland dentist, Huisman Family Dentistry, we’re here to make the experience as comfortable and relaxing as possible.

You may wonder why we have wisdom teeth at all, since we don’t really need them. They’re left over from when our diets were much rougher and chewier than they are today. And now there often isn’t room for wisdom teeth. If they come in, they can crowd and push other teeth out of position.

The most important fact about wisdom teeth is that if you experience any pain or soreness,call our Holland dental office at 855.599.5584 as soon as possible. Additionally, keeping up with regular dental visits can help Dr. Huisman determine if there are any potential problems with your wisdom teeth and if extractions are or will be necessary. If you’re due for a dental checkup, give us a call today!

Our teeth are made for biting and chewing food, and that’s it! Tooth enamel seems like a hard surface, but it’s not made to withstand excess pressure or habits that erode it.

Do you have any of these habits?

●      Crunching and sipping

Now that may sound like what teeth are made for, but we’re talking about crunching things like ice cubes, or even popcorn kernels. Bite down on them the wrong way, and you could end up with a cracked tooth.

Sipping? Yes! Soda (even diet), tea, and other acidic beverages can eventually erode your teeth, especially if you habitually consume them.

●      Using teeth as tools

Teeth aren’t nutcrackers or bottle openers! Or any other tool!

●      Tooth grinding

If you grind your teeth, even in your sleep, you can wear them down without even noticing! You may need a night guard or other dental appliance to help stop grinding, and if your teeth are worn down, you may need further dental treatment to rebuild your bite.

●      Hard-bristled toothbrush

A toothbrush with hard bristles might seem like a good idea, but it’s better to use a soft- or medium-bristled brush, and brush regularly and longer! Set a timer for two minutes to remind yourself of how long to brush.

●      Not brushing or flossing enough

Brush and floss your teeth at least twice a day, in the morning after breakfast and before bedtime. If you can’t brush during the day, try to drink plain water so you can at least “rinse” out any food particles or acidic drinks.

So what could happen if you use your teeth in ways nature didn’t really intend? Obviously you could chip or break your tooth, requiring a restoration, such as dental bonding, or a porcelain crown. Dr. Huisman offers both dental bonding and porcelain crowns for Holland.

If you have any of these habits, it’s never too late to change! If you have any tooth or gum pain for any reason, please call our dental office in Holland at 855.599.5584.

 

Even if you’ve never had root canal treatment, you may dread the procedure  because of jokes or tall tales! The fact is, a root canal treatment is just that: it treats the problem and relieves pain. In most cases, you will not have any pain during a root canal procedure. At our dental office in Holland, we do everything we can to make sure you’re relaxed, comfortable, and as pain-free as possible for all of our procedures, from filling a cavity, to periodontal therapy, to…root canals!

Why Would I Need a Root Canal?

The tooth’s pulp and root canals contain all the blood vessels and nerve tissue the tooth needs to thrive. If the tissue becomes infected, you may experience soreness, swelling, and “pimples” on your gums. It’s important to treat the root canals as quickly as possible so we can save your tooth. That’s always our first goal.

Root canal therapy involves treating any infection, removing the diseased tissue, and cleaning out the canals so they’re free of bacteria or debris. We then seal the root canals to replace the pulp and prevent any bacteria from getting back into the area.

Generally, we’ll place a crown over the tooth to reinforce it against accidental damage and infection in the future. Our technology and pain management therapies have made root canal treatment a much quicker procedure, and most people feel no pain at all!

Call our Holland dental office at 855.599.5584 if you’re experiencing tooth pain or any kind of discomfort.  Or maybe it’s just time for a checkup. At Huisman Family Dentistry in Holland, we’re happy to help!

There’s so much to think about when a new baby arrives. It can be pretty daunting! When your baby is a newborn, dental care might be the last thing on your mind. Or like many people, you may think that baby teeth aren’t that important since they’ll eventually fall out.

But dental care in Holland should begin even before that first precious tooth appears. Start out by using a soft cloth and gently wipe his gums when you’re giving him his bath. When his teeth start to appear, use a soft baby toothbrush and a tiny drop of non-fluoride toothpaste to gently brush his teeth twice a day. Fluoride should be introduced into his system no earlier than 6 months, and even then in minimal amounts until he reaches 12 months.

You also want to be sure your own dental habits are thorough and your mouth is as germ-free as possible. When you taste your baby’s food with his spoon, or temporarily put his pacifier in your mouth to “clean” it, you may be passing on germs and bacteria.

If he knocks out a baby tooth, don’t worry — a permanent tooth will eventually grow in its place. See the dentist to make sure that no underlying teeth were damaged and will still have space to grow in. Baby teeth are important because they help your child eat and speak and because they hold a spot in your child’s mouth for his permanent teeth to come in properly.

Your baby should have a first dental checkup about the time of his or her first birthday. Starting early with routine dental care will help your child develop a lifetime of good habits! At Huisman Family Dentistry, we provide pediatric dental care in Holland as well as care for your whole family. If you have a child who’s ready for a first checkup, call our dental office in Holland to schedule an appointment. And why not schedule one for yourself as well and make dental care a family affair?

Do you have good hand washing habits? And how do you know your hands are really clean? Obviously, it’s an important issue at our dental office in Holland. We wash our hands all the time! We’d like to pass a few tips on to you about keeping your hands clean.

First of all, just how important is it really to wash your hands regularly? Well, in one study, more than 10% of people’s hands carried as much fecal bacteria as you’d find in a dirty toilet bowl. And this kind of contamination was found on bank cards and money too!

(If you want to wash your hands right now, go ahead! But come back and read how to do it really well.)

If You’ve Got 20 Seconds…

That’s all it takes to do a thorough job of hand washing, if you follow these steps:

●      Wet your hands with clean running water (warm or cold) and apply soap.

●      Rub your hands together to make a lather and scrub them well; be sure to scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.

●      Continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.

●      Rinse your hands well under running water.

●      Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry.

When Should You Wash?

If you’re cooking, it’s good to wash before, during and after working with food. Any time you’re caring for someone with a cold, or with a cut or wound, or after sneezing and coughing. And of course, after using the toilet and after changing a diaper or helping a child in the bathroom. If in doubt, just wash!

We wash our hand a lot at Huisman Family Dentistry. But we do much more to make sure our dental office is clean and sterile for you and meet or exceed every guideline and regulation set for us by the federal government and the state of Michigan. If you’d like to know more about it, just ask us during your next visit at our Holland dental office!

All of us at Huisman Family Dentistry want say a very big “Welcome!” to our new patient care coordinator, Linda Cooper. Her experience adds a new layer to our comprehensive patient care, and we think we’re very lucky to have her as part of our dental practice.

Linda is a recent addition to the dental profession, but comes with 30 years of corporate customer service experience. She also holds a degree in medical case management from Davenport University.

She has an exceptional background and training in process improvement, LEAN implementation and Six Sigma theories, all leading edge process management applications in general business that brings a whole new dimension to patient care coordination.

Linda’s responsibility is to help our patients move seamlessly through the treatment process, such as coordinating treatments with other dental providers like endodontists, oral surgeons, or orthodontists. She knows that the healthcare process can be scary, but having a competent professional like Linda will go a long way to reassuring our patients are well cared for.

Linda has distinguished herself in other areas as well. To name a few:

• Served in the AmeriCorps doing disaster preparedness for Ottawa County, MI
• Certified CPR, AED, BBP, FA trainer for the American Red Cross
• Silver Toque from the Institute of Culinary Enthusiasts
• Former State Chairperson for CARE USA
• Medical Response Team at Central Wesleyan Church
• Founding member and former Board President of the Pediatric Oncology
• Resource Team at Helen DeVos Children’s hospital

She is also the proud mother of a 17-year old son (Sutton) and a 15-year old daughter

(Eden). She loves jet skiing, kayaking, swimming and anything else that’s near a beach and water. And last, but not least, she’s the loving owner of Ace, “the blackest, fattest cat on the planet!”

We hope you get to know Linda the next time you visit our Holland dental office. We’re happy she’s here!

Did you know nearly 75% of adults in the U.S. have some fear of going to the dentist? In fact, fear of the dentist is so common that there are two names for it—odontophobia and dentophobia!

There are many reasons behind a fear of the dentist in Holland:

• A personal traumatic or painful experience
• Bad experiences by other people
• Impersonal, uncaring dentists
• Mass media (movies, TV)
• A perception that you’re helpless or don’t have control

If you’ve visited our dental office in Holland, you already know we make sure you’re comfortable and taken care of here. We have blankets and memory foam pillows, and you can listen to music if you like.

If you do experience anxiety, we can help you relax with sedation dentistry—by using nitrous oxide (laughing gas). In about 30 seconds, you’re completely relaxed and in a blissful, comfortable state. Once your treatment is finished, we’ll give you pure oxygen. You’ll be revived and awake in no time. In just a few minutes, you’ll be able to drive yourself home; it’s that easy! We also have several types of local anesthesia we can use depending on what treatment you’re having. Being relaxed will help the anesthesia do its job, and being pain-free will make you feel that much more relaxed!

If you have fear of the dentist, relax and call our Holland dental office at 616.396.5919. We’re here to help!