Late summer is upon us and we get so many questions from parents as to if their child in sports should wear a mouth guard. My immediate answer is always, "YES!". No matter what the sport or even if they are wearing a full facehelmet, a person should be wearing a mouth guard to atleast prevent the teeth from slamming together. And if they could be exposed to any impact, then the fronts of atleast the upper teeth should be protected. With today's material selection available to us, we can fabricate many "smaller feeling" guards. Most are so comfortable that you forget about them even being worn. There are even some guards that can be made that will increase sports endurance!!!

The easiest way to get a proper fitting guard is to see us for an impression of your mouth and we use a vacuum to form the material closely to the teeth. The cost of a sports guard is so much cheaper than the tooth replacement if the unfortunate happens.

Many patients are asking what do they do if they have a dental emergency while on vacation. My first response to them is the likelihood of having a dental emergency is very slight since most of our patients see us on a regular basis and dentally are maintained beyond the normal standard of care. However, the random stray peppercorn in a sauce on a pasta dish could happen and crack a portion of a tooth. I tell our patients to first, call our office and notify us of the situation. If after normal open hours then they will get the machine which gives each of the doctor contact numbers. For most issues we can adivise on the phone wthout an expensive trip to a local office.

But more importantly, we will see you upon your safe return as quickly as possible to correct your situation.

After a very needed three day weekend, the summer season has begun. We are gearing up to have lots of our patients either begin their orthodontictreatment while school is out and others are scheduled to have their braces removed. The patients get excited knowing that their bite is stabilizing and their smile modification is almost complete. To me the removal is the most rewarding. I love being proud of my work. Seeing the patient's smile for the first time without all of the "armament" is a wonderful feeling. I am amazed how the most anticipated day for our younger patients is when they get their braces or appliances on yet how soon they begin asking when the process will be over. Before treatment start, I could tell them til I'm blue in the face just how long their treatment plan will beas they are only focused on what color appliances to pick! Its cute.

Let me run....I have to help a little 7 year old girl pick out what color tie dye colors to use for her expander. I'm thinking pastels with a mix of glow-in-the-dark.

As we look out the window and see the pear trees snowing, it is spring break for the area. We are busy seeing all of the children who don't want to miss any school by seeing us. Parents like it since they don't have to wake them up so early and get them here before any class bell start. Now they can leisurely get here for a 10am appointment. The teens would still like to appear in the afternoon. Ah I remember back to those days!

This week is Dental Assistant Appreciation Week here at the office. We wanted to remind all of us that our assistant staff is a wonderful support staff. Evelyn, Tori, and Galina arrived on Monday to find posters, banners, thank-you notes, an orchid, Godiva Chocolates, and a balloon bouquet. Evelyn was the first to discover there was even more surprise within each balloon..and of course she was the first one to pop them. For our patients whom know Evelyn, it should not surprise them that she was the most curious receiver.

It has also been great seeing the patients coming into the rooms and thanking our girls personally for the hard work they do. Even the hygienists and Front Desk staff are getting thank-yous. We have such a great staff!