OUR OWN FACEBOOK PAGES AND BARCODE:
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EVENTS & CONTESTS:
HOLIDAYS: We love to celebrate happy events and holidays!
Happy 2011! This is an exciting time of the year when we set new goals and plan new adventures. As always, we wish you lots of health, happiness and success!!!
Happy Fall Time!!! We hope that you had a fun summer and enjoy the warm weather! Here at Care Orthodontics we are always thankful for wonderful patients and friends like yourselves.
Please refer your friends and family! We appreciate your referrals!!! We certainly feel proud that you are happy with our service to refer others. We love to create beautiful smiles and share many smiles and memories with you, your family and friends. Dr. Phan constantly take continuing education courses and implement new technology to provide you the best care!
PATIENT APPRECIATION DAY: Monday FEBRUARY 13th 2012
CONTESTS: Be sure to enter our FUN OFFICE CONTESTS! When you come in for your appointment, check the bulletin board in the waiting room for the posted contest questions and enter your answers. We'll pick a raffle drawing every 6 weeks . May you be the next proud WINNER of fun prizes!
GOOD ORAL HYGIENE CONTESTS: Patients who demonstrate good brushing and flossing may be raffled to win Jamba Juice Gift Cards and an Electric Power Toothbrush
OFFICE CONTESTS: We have fun contests and games for kids on a regular basis. Winner is raffled to win various prizes including: Movies tickets, Gift cards, Organic Plants, T-shirts, Tote bags, Bag packs, Goodies, I-pods, Kindles, and many other Environmental products... We make it fun for our little patients!!! We constantly find ways to educate and encourage good hygiene and good behaviors!
2011 MONTHLY RAFFLE WINNERS: Justina Nguyen(March), Camille Johnson (April), Kathleen Nguyen (May), Mayra Castillo (June), Whitney Worth (July), Brianna Borroya (August), Sharon Vu (September), Heidi Ngo (October), Robert Caudillo (November), Ashley Ortega (December). Congratulations and enjoy your prizes!!!
CONGRATULATION TO ALL OUR CONTEST WINNERS! Enjoy your Jamba Juice experience, your Movie experience, your Shopping experience, whatever the prizes may be!!! We hope you all continue to keep up with brushing and flossing and having coming to your appointments!
BIRTHDAYS: We love to celebrate birthdays with our patients. Wish you a fun, exciting and wonderful birthday celebration!
PERSONAL SUCCESS: Life is exciting when you challenge yourself to become a better person. Share with us your stories. We love to hear from you and we will be here to encourage you and cheer you on along the way!!!
FRIEND REFERRALS: We take great pride in our work and we take compliments when you refer your family and friends to see us. Let us know when your friend came in for an exam; we would like to give you a small gift as a token of our sincere appreciation.
COMMUNITY SERVICES:
We are proud to participate in the Give Kids a Smile Event, organized by the Santa Clara Dental Society. This is a charitable non-profit event that provides free dental screenings to elementary and graded-school students every year during month of February and provides free dental services to those in need. At Care Orthodontics, we give back to our community by providing pro-bono services through charitable free orthodontic treatment for selected individuals with financial challenges and special needs, nominated by the Santa Clara Dental Society Program.
PATIENT EDUCATION:
BRACES TIPS:
Why do I need to spend extra time brushing with braces? You need to brush your teeth frequently to prevent tooth decay, tooth decalcification (tooth scarring), tooth discoloration and gum disease.
How often do I need to brush with braces? You need to brush your teeth at least 3 times a day, following each meal. For each time, a two-minute brushing routine is recommended. In addition, don't forget to FLOSS! Good brushing without flossing can still lead to decay in between teeth and gum swelling in between teeth. A fluoride rinse is also recommended since it can strengthen enamel and reduce decay.
Can I use a waterpik in replacement for flossing? No. A waterpik can flush out plaque in hard to reach places but it does not break contacts of teeth to remove plaque completely. Use it as an adjunctive tool only.
Do wisdom teeth cause my teeth to move? Research do not prove that wisdom teeth cause other teeth to shift. However, many research studies do show that there are many problems associated with wisdom teeth such as swelling, cavities, gum inflammation and infection. Therefore, they should be removed to prevent future problems but not due to "orthodontic" reason. Your general dentist can give you recommendations as when to remove wisdom teeth.
Can I drink soda while wearing braces? Yes but ONLY with moderation! You should drink no more than 1 can of soda a day. Phosphoric and citric acid in soda can soften the bonding material and cause braces to break off easily. In addition, these acids can also cause decalcification and lead to scarring and damages to enamel. Try to drink more water, flavored water, milk and juice. Cut back on drinks with lot of sugar and use sugar-substituted drink as much as possible.
What's about popcorn? Yes, but avoid the kernel part. It's hard and can break off your brackets.
How bad do braces hurt? On the scale of 1-10 with 1 is very little and 10 is severe, braces rank about a score of 3-4 at its worst during the 2nd day.
How many days do braces hurt? Usually about 3-5 days after braces put on and after each monthly adjustment. Most often, discomfort lessens at the monthly adjustments since you are already familiar with the process and the expected soreness. At day 1 you will feel some tenderness about 6-8 hours after braces placed on. Day 2 is the most uncomfortable day when your teeth are a bit sensitive when you bite down and chew food. It 's good to eat soft food or cut food to small pieces so you don't have to chew so much. From day 3 on, the feeling of tenderness will go away and you will start to feel normal again.
INVISALIGN TIPS:
Is Invisalign good for me? Invisalign is a good way to straighten out teeth without braces. It is a good system to correct crooked teeth and improve bites without resorting to the use of metal brackets and wires. At Care Orthodontics, Dr. Phan is very experienced with both systems.
Invisalign vs Braces? Which one is better? Braces is the Gold standard in correcting and bite. Braces can provide precise movements and exact amount of force whenever needed. Invisalign can straighten out teeth but requires case selective. Sometimes it may not be strong enough to fix a large bite discrepancy and may need additional forces from appliances or braces.
Invisalign vs Braces? Which one is faster? As far as bone biology goes, teeth take about the same time to move whether through Invisalign or through Braces. In general, since Invisalign are not used to correct severe bite problems, they take shorter time due to less case complexity and simpler treatment goals. Since each individual has different bite and different needs, patient should be evaluated individually. If you are interested in Invisalign, make a consultation appointment with Dr. Phan and she will let you know if you are a good candidate for Invisalign treatment.
HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR FAMILY'S ORTHODONTIST?
The 8 Things You Must Know Before Choosing Your Family’s Orthodontist
1. Welcome to Care Orthodontics. Our mission is not to simply straighten our patients’ teeth. Rather the goal of our work is to increase Confidence, Self-Esteem, Attractiveness, Happiness and Fun for children and adults. We truly believe our orthodontic treatment creates life-long advantages and opportunities for our patients.
2. Our practice strongly encourages early initial evaluations. The American Association of Orthodontists recommend a child for orthodontic evaluation at the age of 7. However, at the time of their initial orthodontic evaluation, many children may not require orthodontic treatment. If your child does not require orthodontic treatment at the time of your initial visit, we put him/her on recall and wait until treatment should be started. Less than 20 percent of the patients we treat are between the ages of 6 and 9 years old.
3. Our practice makes orthodontic care affordable for your family. We offer NO COST initial orthodontic exams and evaluations. In addition if Dr. Phan recommends that you begin treatment at the time of your initial visit, we offer many options to make treatment affordable for you. We offer monthly payment plans, 3rd party financing; in-house, interest-free financing for those qualify, and a low down-payment option.
4. Our practice accepts many insurance plans and we participate IN-NETWORK providers for many PPO plans. We work with your plan to ensure you receive the maximum benefit available. Did you know that most of our patients with dental insurance coverage receive an average orthodontic benefit of $1000 - $1,500 toward the cost of their braces? We also pride ourselves on assisting our patients to ensure that they plan in advance to maximize their Flex Spending Account dollars.
5. An orthodontist is a dentist, who after graduating from dental school, completes additional full-time university-based education in an accredited orthodontic residency program supervised by orthodontists. This specialized training lasts at least 2-3 academic years, requires full-time academic study, passing exams, thousands of clinical hours, original research, and submitted publication. By learning and studying about tooth movement (orthodontics) and guidance of facial development (dentofacial orthopedics), orthodontists are the specifically educated experts in dentistry to straighten teeth and align jaws.
6. To seek treatment from an orthodontic specialist, you do not need to be referred by a general dentist. In fact, almost 50 percent of patients that are treated by Dr. Phan not referred by a general dentist, but rather sought out treatment based on our reputation for dedicated personal care.
7. Orthodontic treatment is not just for children any longer! In fact, 25 percent of the patients treated by Dr. Phan are adults. Many of our adult patients are finding out now how a healthy, attractive smile can enhance their careers, as well as their self-esteem and happiness. Even though you may not have gotten braces when you were young, why should you deprive yourself any longer of the many benefits of expert orthodontic treatment? In fact, new procedures available today, such as Invisalign®, are much more convenient for a busy adult’s schedule, and so invisible you’ll be the only one that knows!
8. Orthodontics is a long-term commitment with a possibility of 2 to 3 years of active treatment and at least 1 year of retainer follow-up. At Care Orthodontics we are committed to provide you with continuous treatment care from start to finish.