Bernard & Eimer Orthodontics, supporting the Moms For Mouth Guards Campaign

Our friends at the American Association of Orthodontists posted a great video about their Moms For Mouth Guards campaign, a program promoting the importance of mouth guards for our kids' sports activities. Through the Moms For Mouth Guards Campaign, football great Emmitt Smith and the AAO are educating parents and coaches about the importance of wearing mouth guards and other protective gear while kids are out on the field. The campaign encourages parents and coaches to take the Moms For Mouth Guards Pledge to keep their young athletes safer on the field. For every pledge received, the AAO makes a donation to the National Alliance of Youth Sports.

Remember, only by using a mouth guard can kids with and without braces avoid serious sports injuries. The next time you're in for a visit with Drs. Bernard or Eimer, be sure to ask us for a mouth guard, and we will provide one for you! We hope you're enjoying your summer so far!

National Smile Week at Bernard & Eimer Orthodontics!

It’s National Smile Week, and a GREAT time to remind our patients at Bernard and Eimer Orthodontics to practice good oral hygiene to keep those teeth shining during your orthodontic treatment! This includes brushing and flossing regularly, avoiding foods that can stain your teeth such as tea and coffee (and many others) and visiting your general dentist on a regular basis.

And remember to smile at people you come across throughout the week, whether you know them or not. Smiles are contagious, and are a good thing to give and to get. In addition, smiling can actually help you live longer, according to a recent study! We hope you're having a relaxing and wonderful summer!

From the Bernard and Eimer Orthodontics staff

Hygiene appreciation at Bernard & Eimer Orthodontics

We will be incorporating a contest for your dentist’s hygienist. We will be changing the blue card that you return to us for Wahoos after you have been to the dentist for a cleaning. The bottom of the card will have a tear off to put your hygienist in a contest thru our office to win a gift card to their favorite place!!

Happy Monday everybody!

Patient survey!

We had a great outreach from our moms that helped with our patient phone survey. We would like to give all of them a standing ovation for all the time and efforts put into this project. A wonderful job done by all of them!!

KELLY HARTER
LYNN VERNIER
PAULA TREFF
CATHLEEN TURNER
DENISE ICKES
STACY BAKER
TIFFANI BROCK
SUSAN DI PIETRO
YVETTE BLANDFORD
JILL BUSKEN
JILL CHENOWITH
SUSAN HAMMOND
LINDA JARKA

We are still putting together all the information from the surveys and will discuss it in a future article. We just wanted to share some of your great comments: “kid friendly, excellent service, completely satisfied, appreciates the friendly staff and well organized.”

Thank you for all of your kind words! Have a GREAT weekend everyone!

110th AAO Annual Session in Washington D.C.!

This year, the American Association of Orthodontists Annual Session was in our Nation's Capital. Dr. Michael Bernard, his wife Sally, and Rhonda attended. Rhonda went to many lectures, and did some site-seeing. Her favorite speaker Joan Garbo was wonderful. She has lots of positive energy and you come out of her seminars feeling renewed and ready to help people change their lives. Her quote “Never let anyone steal your Joy!”

We walked around the White House (which is cream in color by the way) and many monuments. My favorite was the World War II memorial. It’s a beautiful tribute to those who served. We went to Georgetown for shopping and lunch and stood in front of the house that JFK and Jacqueline lived in when he was running for President. On the last day we went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Dr. Bernard was a monitor at several lectures, introducing the speaker. He also did his share of lectures. He said his favorite speaker was Jeff Behan on Social Networking and The Web. We had a great time, but it’s always good to come home!

Summer F.A.Q’S with Dr. Michael Bernard

Now that it’s summer, people with braces are more active with sports and outside activities. There are some questions that many of our patients ask about taking care of teeth and braces during this very active time.

1. How do I protect my braces and teeth when playing sports?
Ans.: You should always wear a mouthguard. With braces, we provide a mouthguard for all patients that covers the braces and protects the lips and checks and still allows the teeth to move.

2. What activities should I use a mouthguard for?
Ans.: All contact sports but also anything that could cause a fall or minor trauma such as rollerblading, rock and mountain climbing, mountain biking, and even regular biking (I broke a rib and punctured a lung riding alone on a paved road!).

3. What if my tooth gets knocked out of position?
Ans.: Call us immediately! (or your dentist). The tooth can be pushed back into the proper position if done right away. If you wait until tomorrow, it will have to be moved back with braces.

4. What if my tooth gets knocked out?
Ans.: Pick it up gently. (do not clean it off with anything). If dirty, gently rinse and put it into a glass of milk and call us or your dentist and we can put it back into the socket.

5. Should I take my retainer out to play sports?
Ans.: YES – and put your “custom” mouthguard in (made by us or your dentist) after braces are removed. Also remove your retainer while diving in a pool or swimming with waves or engaging in any activity that could cause it to be knocked out and lost.

Your teeth make your smile. Protect them and you can have a beautiful smile for a lifetime.

Our 2010 Scholarship winners!

We'd like to congratulate Lauren Elizabeth Miller from Jackson High School, Alexandra Butz from Central Catholic High School and Kelly Loveless from Jackson High School, our 2010 Scholarship winners!

This year we had 72 applicants for our 19th Annual Scholarship program. Dr. Bernard presented our two winners from Jackson High School at their awards night and Dr. Eimer presented our winner from Central Catholic School. These three young ladies were each awarded our $1,000 scholarship and had previously been awarded with one of our great smiles as you can see from their photos.

We hope you all have a fun, safe and relaxing Independence Day weekend!