Kids and Teeth Grinding

Grind, grind, grind. If you live with a teeth grinder, you may be familiar with this unpleasant sound. Did you know teeth grinding, or bruxism, is common in children as well? In fact, three out of 10 kids grind or clench their teeth, usually in response to losing teeth, jaw growth or other discomforts, such as allergies or infections. Teeth grinding is typically a passing phenomena as most kids outgrow it by the time they reach their teenage years. An important thing to remember is that kids frequently grind their teeth in response to stress, and taking measures to reduce or eliminate stress can help solve the problem.

The first step of recovering from teeth grinding is noticing the problem. Symptoms of teeth grinding include:

• Sensitivity in the teeth
• Tightness or pain in the jaw
• Dull headaches, earaches, or facial pain
• Chipped, worn down, or loose teeth

If your child is a teeth grinder, we may be able to help. Please give our Merritt Island office a call, ask our team during your next visit or on Facebook!

Happy Thanksgiving, from The Dental Specialists

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season knocking at our door, our entire team at The Dental Specialists wanted to stop for a moment and extend our best wishes to you, our patients, referring doctors and families, for a wonderful Thanksgiving.
As always, if you know anyone we can help, just let us know. We promise to give them the same quality orthodontic care that we have given you.
We hope that this Thanksgiving and holiday season brings fond memories. Thank you for being part of our family.

Join the conversation.

Whenever you have a follow-up question for Drs. Williams, Jason Ouellette, Jonathan Ouellette or our team, or if you’d simply like to drop us a quick line, we’d love to hear from you! We love connecting with our patients online, whether it’s by sharing news on our blog or communicating ideas on our interactive Facebook fan page.

Please visit The Dental Specialists on the following networks:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/thedentalspecialists

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheDentalSpecialists?v=app_4949752878

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month!

At The Dental Specialists, our team knows the way you care for your teeth at home doesn’t just affect your oral health – it can impact your overall health as well. In recent years, researchers have found clear links between the mouth and other parts of the body, and the evidence is especially impactful for people with diabetes.

November marks Diabetes Awareness Month, and a great time to learn about how keeping your mouth healthy is vital to your overall health, too. If you are one of the nearly 26 million Americans currently living with diabetes, there is some good news: you can protect your gums and teeth from the effects of diabetes by visiting our Merrit Island office for regular check-ups and cleanings. Most people should have at least two dental appointments per year, but those folks living with diabetes may require additional visits to make sure their dental health remains in top shape. Many insurance plans provide expanded benefits for diabetic patients. Drs. Williams, Jason Ouellette, Jonathan Ouellette and our experts can tell you how often you need to come in for your dental visits.

For more information on how we can help, please give our Merrit Island office a call or ask us on Facebook!

Happy November! From The Dental Specialists

Happy November, everybody! Believe it or not, we’re almost in full holiday mode! But before we at The Dental Specialists forget about the spooky month that was, we’d like to know how you celebrated Halloween! What did you wear? How much candy did you get? Did you have fun?

If you have any photos or videos that you would like to share with us, please send them our way or feel free to post them on our Facebook page!

We hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween! Also, what are you up to this month? Anything exciting happening in your life? If so, we’d love to hear all about it!

Lastly, have you been in for a dental checkup lately? It’s important that you visit The Dental Specialists every six months, or as recommended by Drs. Williams, Jason Ouellette, Jonathan Ouellette. For general information, give us a call, ask us on Facebook or ask us during your next visit!

Halloween TIPS from the American Dental Association

It’s almost that spooky time of year again! Whether you are going door-to-door trick or treating, attending a party dressed in a clever, silly, or scary costume, or simply getting together with friends and family to watch scary movies, Drs. Williams, Jason Ouellette, Jonathan Ouellette and our team want you to keep in mind the following tips to help reduce tooth-decay from our friends and the American Dental Association.

•Eat treats with meals. Saliva production increases during meals washing out food particles and helping to neutralize cavity causing plaque acid.

•Consider chewing ADA Accepted sugarless gum after meals. Certain sugarless gums have earned the ADA Seal of Acceptance for scientifically proving that chewing the gum for 20 minutes after meals helped prevent tooth decay.

•Follow the 1-2-3s of good daily oral hygiene: Floss once a day, brush twice a day and eat three balanced meals a day.

•Visit Dr. Williams and Drs. Jason and Jonathan Ouellette for regular checkups.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from your friends at The Dental Specialists!

5 tips to avoid plaque, from The Dental Specialists

At The Dental Specialists, we know nobody likes getting plaque on their teeth. Here are five other ways you can avoid that dreaded enemy of the teeth, courtesy of WebMD.

Let’s start with brushing regularly. Brushing your teeth twice a day with a fluoride-containing toothpaste is vital to a healthy mouth. Make sure you softly brush all the surfaces of your teeth.

Next on the list is flossing daily: a simple daily flossing between teeth clears away plaque before it can cause damage and can also clean plaque at the gum line. Plaque is known to reach the spaces between teeth.

Also, evading a trip to visit Drs. Jason Ouellette or Jonathan Ouellette and team is probably not a great idea is probably not a great idea. Let’s say you brush and floss daily. You’re still at risk for plaque. With time, the plaque hardens and turns into tartar. Consider visiting The Dental Specialists at least twice a year or as recommended, and you have a lower chance of getting cavities or losing your natural teeth.

You’ll also want to stop avoiding those fruits and veggies. Believe it or not, there are foods out there that play a key role in keeping plaque off our teeth. They include apples, carrots, cucumbers and other raw fruits and vegetables. You can still eat these types of fruits and veggies if you’re wearing braces, but be sure to cut them up into bite sized pieces to avoid breaking off brackets.

Finally, before you pick up that candy bar, remember to not give in to your sweet tooth. Consuming sugary drinks or eating candy or other junk food allows sugar to stick to our teeth. The bacteria, then, becomes plaque, which turns into acid and damages our teeth. Avoiding these five bad habits keeps your plaque in check and your mouth as healthy as can be. If you have any questions, give us a call or ask us on Facebook!