Honoring our veterans and heroes this Memorial Day weekend

Memorial Day is a time to pay tribute to the servicemen and women who died protecting our country. It’s also the unofficial start of summer, and for many kids in Northfield, Hudson, Akron and surrounding areas, getting out of town for three days with parents after being in school for nine months spells sweet, sweet relief.

At Dr. White’s office, we know Memorial Day weekend is ripe for travel. After all, it’s unofficially the start of summer 2011 and time for a season full of vacations, adventures and great memories with parents or friends. What are you up to this Memorial Day weekend? What will you be doing on your day off from school or work?

Whether you are headed to a barbecue, a camping trip, or hitting the open road with your family, we’d like to hear all about it! Enjoy the long weekend if you're not scheduled for an appointment next week!

Ask Dr. White: When should my child come in for a consultation?

Great question. Many parents assume they must wait until a child has all of his or her permanent teeth to visit Dr. White, only to find that treatment would have been much easier if started earlier. Consequently, the American Association of Orthodontists recommends that every child have an orthodontic check-up no later than age seven.

Ok, so what’s so great about age seven, you ask? Enough permanent teeth have arrived for an orthodontist to make a determination about whether any problems are present. The first molars have come in, providing an opportunity to check for malocclusion, or “bad bite.” Also, the incisors have begun to come in, and problems such as crowding, deep bites and open bites can be detected.

Orthodontic evaluation at an early age provides one of two positive outcomes: For some, early identification or problems will lead to easier or shorter orthodontic treatment in the future. For others, a healthy prognosis will provide immediate peace of mind.

Early evaluation, of course, may signal a need for early treatment. For some children, early treatment can prevent physical and emotional trauma. Aside from spurring on years of harmful teasing, misaligned teeth are also prone to injury and detrimental to good oral hygiene. So if your child is nearing age 7, give us a call at Braces by White to schedule an appointment.

Dr. White at the 111th AAO Annual Session in Chicago

Patients at Braces by Whiite can feel confident they are receiving the best in orthodontic health care. Dr. John C. White's goal is to provide the most up-to-date technology and techniques using the best equipment possible. He is devoted to continuing education and furthers his learning through reading, attending conferences and continuing education courses. One of those conferences includes the 2011 AAO Annual Session in Chicago, where Dr. White is spending this weekend.

The AAO Annual Session is an always-educational event that is also one of the largest orthodontic conventions in the world. It’s also a time for Dr. White to consult with dental experts and orthodontists from around the country and stay up-to-date on all the latest technologies and orthodontic treatment options available. This, of course, allows Dr. White to give you, our wonderful patients at Braces by White, the best treatment experience possible.

If you’ve got an appointment for an adjustment or consultation scheduled with us soon, we invite you to ask Dr. White about his Chicago trip, including what he learned and how continuing education and acquisition of new technology helps us treat you more effectively!

Flossing with Braces 101

Dr. White will tell you that keeping your teeth clean is more important than ever when you have braces. Food bits have more spots than usual to hide in your mouth, so you must be diligent in order to avoid bad breath, swollen gums, discolored teeth and cavities. If you remove plaque regularly during treatment, you'll experience better results and could possibly reduce your treatment time.

Here is a very concise video explaining the proper way to floss your teeth with braces. Give us a call if you have more questions about flossing. Enjoy!

Braces by White, using the best technology to put our patients at ease

Similarly to about 1/3 of orthodontists, Dr. John White routinely uses high tech memory wires and self-ligating braces (like Damon braces) that reduce friction, which improves patient comfort and is gentler to the roots of the teeth and adjacent bone. This has the added advantage of reducing the number of appointments by 3 or 4 over the course of treatment.

Braces by White also offers two technologies that are unique for this region. In both offices, we use the Sirona dental CAT scan. This cutting edge technology provides significantly better visualization than conventional x-rays at basically the same level of radiation exposure, so that we can better diagnosis and plan treatment. The 3D views also help parents and patients more easily view and understand exactly what problems exist in the mouth.

Our office is also the first and only SureSmile provider in our area. As documented by the World Journal of Orthodontics, SureSmile technology not only reduces treatment time by about 1/3, but also improves the quality of the result.

Using these three technologies in conjunction results in shorter treatment times, as well as the superior quality that our patients expect and deserve.

How do we "Go Green" at Braces by White?

My wife and I have always had the "green" mindset. She developed hers from living in Colorado during college and I was an avid backpacker in Arizona during my tour at Luke Air Force base in the 70's.

But the real push came when we realized that our children and grandchildren might not inherit the pristine world that we grew up in.

We personally have been recycling everything that we can for years, even before curbside pickup and local dropoffs. Both offices have containers for glass, plastic, metal, and paper recycleables.

When I designed the newer office location in Hudson, I intentionally chose a smaller space and hired a certified "green" architect to take care of the details. The carpeting is 40% post consumer recycled product and is designed to have the sections repositioned every few years to extend the useful lifecycle. The manufacturer also guarantees that they will 100% recycle all of their products when replaced. The wood flooring is rapidly renewable bamboo.
The plastic panels etc are 40-60% recycled. And we added 8 "sky tubes" to bring in natural light above the chairs. Water heaters are tankless demand units to save energy. The office is wired for solar panels on the upper deck in the future.

Both offices use digital x-ray equipment, eliminating the use of chemicals for processing.

During our computer upgrades taking place this May/June we will be reducing the use of paper significantly.

And finally, we contribute to several national environmental funds regularly since we believe that leaving the world a prettier and healthier place is more than just the smiles that we create for our patients.

- Dr. White

Dr. White is proud to treat patients with special needs

We have always been proud of our care for special needs patients. At some level it seems most of our patients would like to be treated as special. Often this means little more than taking the time to ask questions about feelings, listening to the patient and parent's answer, and responding.

Taking a little extra time to make sure everything is clear before we do anything seems to make a big difference.

We have had staff with children that had autism, so we are attune to their special needs.

And finally, anyone who has met Dr. White knows that he is intimately/personally aware of ADD / ADHD management.

Dr John White