You come home with braces. They feel funny in your mouth and your teeth hurt. You’ve heard the terrible rumors. You can’t imagine playing the trumpet with your mouth the way it is. Your teeth just hurt too much. A couple of days later, the hurting has decreased–or maybe you’ve just gotten used to it–and you open up the case and put the mouthpiece in the horn. You raise your horn to your lips. The mouthpiece sits on your chops like you’ve never done this before. You take a breath, rather tentative, tongue a note, and blow. The sound is awful. You sounded better in sixth grade (sixth graders: think fourth grade). It just feels so weird. Everything feels different and weird. You play a few more notes, all low. They all sound bad. You try to go a bit higher, the buzz stops altogether, no sound comes out, and it hurts. You are first chair, but the guy on the other end can do better than you now, and he plays with the mouthpiece over near his left earlobe. You play a few more notes and then try a higher one again. Same thing happens, and it is starting to hurt. You can feel the braces start to dig into the back of your chops. Try one more time. No sound. Pain. You put your horn back in the case, shut it.

That is how it feels, but don’t get discouraged. Keep reminding yourself that others have done it, and so can you. In fact, it seems to Eric Bolvin and trumpet teachers everywhere that nearly every kid gets braces at some point. So be positive and be patient, but be realistic. This is a major trauma, but you are up to it. It is going to take some time for you to return to your best, but you can do it. Nearly all the contributors to this page pointed out the need to maintain a positive attitude, and to persevere. And, as Shane Porter pointed out, this is the attitude one really should have all the time: if you’re going to be a trumpet player, in general you should have a strong positive attitude that will pave the road for gigging later in life. Michael Haig, who has had braces twice, recommends listening to recordings of very fine trumpet players when you start to get discouraged. Hear what made the trumpet exciting for you again.

There is also a silver lining to the cloud. Sarah Jones said that braces caused her to fix the bad habits that she had before, such as applying pressure to play or pinching to get notes out. Also because of the greater amount of air required to play with braces, she got in the good habit of using lots of air when playing. As long as you don’t try to find short cuts, she says, you might easily come out a better player. When she auditioned for college after just two months off braces, the faculty that listened to her, she reports, were all very impressed. She attributes her success to being determined from the beginning.

Click here to  read the rest of this article written by James F. Donaldson at schoolmusictoday.com

Minars Orthodontics appreciates our patients! We will be holding a patient appreciation event this summer as a thank you to all of our patients.

      On August 28, 2010, Minars Orthodontics will host our first annual “Back to School Bowling Bash”. All patients and their families are invited to attend but must RSVP a spot. Beginning at 11:45am at Sparez bowling alley in Davie FL, patients and their friends will be greeted with raffle tickets which will be used to give away GREAT PRIZES. The raffle will be held around 1:45pm (The event ends at 2:00pm).

      Since this event is for our patients, the guests will be able to bowl for FREE for 2 hours with their family and friends, receive FREE pizza and cake, participate in the raffle, and receive goodie bags from our office!

The best part of the event is the GREAT PRIZES that will be raffled off. All patients and their friends will receive one raffle ticket for attending the event. Each patient that brings a friend will receive an extra raffle ticket and has an even greater chance of winning a prize. Our patients and their friends have an opportunity to win one of these prizes:

• Wii

• Bicycle

• 1 of 2 Ipods

• Flip Video

• Ripstick

• Movie Tickets

• Games

• and MUCH MORE!  

Patients, please call or come in to the office to sign up for this event. Spaces are limited and filling up quickly. To make sure you have a space at this event, please RSVP as soon as possible. We look forward to seeing you there! 

     In April 2010, two staff members of Minars Orthodontics, Office manager Sonia and her daughter Amy, visited Nicaragua as part of a missions trip hosted by a local church. The trip lasted one week and during that time, the four women that brought the supplies visited the cities of Leon and Giugalpa. There are many families living in both areas that benefit from the contributions from their sponsors here in Florida. The sponsors and the children they support have been paired up through the efforts of the church.

     The supplies that were brought were gathered by the church and people who support these children financially every month. The sponsors may not be able to visit the children but are still able to provide them with their monthly contributions. Due to their generosity, the children and the families living in these areas were able to receive the supplies they needed.

     Our staff members along with others involved in the missions trip brought supplies such as food, clothing, hygiene products and even some toys for the children and their families. In support of this missions trip and our staff members that participated, Minars Orthodontics provided toothbrushes, toothpastes and chap sticks for each of these children. As seen in the pictures below, the trip was a success and many children and families now have the supplies they desperately needed.

   To learn more about this missions trip, supporting these children financially or the local church that hosts the trip each year, please visit http://jesucristoeltodopoderoso.com.

Written By: Pam Paladin of the AAO Marketing Department

Retrieved From: Expertclick.com

Two College Scholarships to be Awarded by American Association of Orthodontists – Enter by June 1, 2010

When orthodontic treatment changes looks, outlooks can change, too. The metamorphosis can be remarkable—and worthy of a video that could lead to a college scholarship.

The American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) is sponsoring the “How Orthodontics Changed My Life” video contest. There will be two winners; each winner will be awarded a $2,500 scholarship.* Funds may be used toward the winners’ post-high school educational expenses at a college, university, vocational or technical school.

“Almost every day a patient tells me that orthodontic treatment has made a difference in their lives,” said Robert James Bray, DDS, MS, president of the AAO. “It’s the patients themselves who are best at explaining the transformation that orthodontic treatment brings. Here is a fantastic opportunity for young people to create a video chronicle of their experiences, inspire others and have the chance to win a college scholarship. I am looking forward to seeing and hearing how orthodontic patients are helped by what my colleagues and I do every day.”

Tell your story. What were you like before you had orthodontic treatment? How have you changed? How proud are you of your new smile? When did you notice changes in yourself? What kinds of changes are they? What does your new smile mean to you? What would you say to others whose smiles make them self-conscious?

The “How Orthodontics Changed My Life” video contest is open to students who are legal residents of the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam and Canada, who are 18 years of age or younger as of June 1, 2010, and who have had orthodontic treatment by a member of the AAO. Contestants should be in, or have completed, the active retention phase of treatment.

Contest guidelines, available at www.braces.org/Scholarshipcontest.cfm, provide instructions to contestants on submitting their videos, which are to be submitted on DVDs or USB flash drives and accompanied by a signed release (form posted on the contest guidelines page) and mailed to:

Linda Gladden

Director of Communications and Marketing

American Association of Orthodontists

401 N. Lindbergh Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63141

All video entries must be postmarked by June 1, 2010. Videos submitted should be two minutes in length or less. Entries are limited to one per person. There is no fee to enter.

Ten finalists will be chosen. A panel of AAO-member orthodontists will select the two winning entries from the ten finalists. By June 15, 2010, the 10 finalist videos will be posted on the AAO Web site, braces.org, and on the specialty Web site, AAOinfo.org.

The two winners will be announced by July 1, 2010.

All entries become the property of the AAO.

Roll camera and smile your way to college!

ABOUT THE AAO

The AAO has 16,000 member orthodontists in the United States, Canada and abroad. Founded in 1900, the AAO is the world’s oldest and largest dental specialty organization. The AAO supports research and education leading to quality patient care and promotes increased public awareness of the need for and benefits of orthodontic treatment.

Orthodontists are dentistry’s specialists in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of dental and facial irregularities. They are uniquely qualified to correct “bad bites.” Orthodontists receive an additional two to three years of specialized education beyond dental school to learn the proper way to align and straighten teeth. Only those with this formal education may call themselves “orthodontists,” and only orthodontists are eligible for membership in the AAO.

The AAO’s Web sites are www.Braces.org and www.AAOinfo.org.

*All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winners. Additional terms and conditions apply. Please review the contest guidelines at http://www.braces.org/Scholarshipcontest.cfm for more information.

There are some great outdoor Easter activities for kids that just need you to add an egg or two and you can have egg and spoon races, egg throwing competitions, egg hunts and egg relays. For the egg and spoon races have the kids race as they carry an egg on a spoon. To make the races even more interesting create an obstacle course that requires them to go up, down, in, out, through and around different obstacles. If they can’t all race at once, time each person individually to see how long it takes them to complete the course.

The egg throwing competition can be done in pairs. Give each pair an egg and stand them a short distance apart. Partners have to throw and catch between them. Any pair that drops an egg is eliminated. The partners then move one step further apart and repeat. See how far apart the winning pair can be stand while still throwing and catching.

Of course egg hunts are a big favorite at Easter. Hide real eggs or Easter eggs for children to find. A wonderful kids’ Easter activity is to turn an egg hunt into a treasure hunt with clues leading them from place to place. The final clue can lead to the ‘treasure’ which can be prizes or Easter eggs and candy.

Relays can also be played with eggs. Convert an egg and spoon race to a relay and you have a fun and active Easter activity. Be creative and you will come up with other ways to incorporate eggs into relay races.

But Easter fun doesn’t have to stop outdoors. There are also loads of great kids’ Easter activities that can be doneindoors. Easter crafts can include making Easter wreaths, Easter cards, Easter baskets and decorating eggs or dyeing eggs.

It doesn’t matter whether you are indoors or outdoors, there are loads of fun kids’ Easter activities that you can do with the kids. Just use your imagination and the possibilities are endless!

retrieved 3/29/10 from Ezine Articles

Once your braces come off you will be given a removable retainer for your upper teeth. Some instructions must be followed in order to keep from losing or breaking your retainer. The basic care for your retainer is as follows:

• Always place the retainer in the retainer case when not in your mouth, do not put in your pocket or leave lying around.
• Do not wrap the retainer in a napkin while eating. This increases your chances of losing it after a meal.
• Do not clean the retainer with hot water!
• And the one rule that seems to be the most important…KEEP RETAINER AWAY FROM PETS!

Although this rule is often overlooked when caring for your retainer, it’s true…Dogs love to eat retainers! It is no secret that dogs like to eat weird things, edible or not. Retainers, along with rubber duckies, cell phones, plastic toys and rocks, are among the variety of objects that dogs like to eat even when they definitely don’t taste good! They will eat them up and thoroughly enjoy it without you even noticing.

As proof that dogs like to snack on your retainer, our office decided to post a picture of a half eaten retainer which was brought in by one of our staff members. The retainer was left on her dresser instead of in the retainer case for less than a day and her 2 year old cocker spaniel found her way up to the dresser to have herself an afternoon snack. For some odd reason, many pet owners find themselves in this situation. Although it seems like an odd hobby,  it is a fact that dogs love to get a hold of and chew/eat your retainer, so be careful not to leave your retainer out where small children or pets (especially dogs!) can get a hold of it. Not only will your teeth begin to move without the retainer in place, but in order to replace it, you will have to pay for a new retainer to be made.

So if you have lost your retainer and you think you have looked everywhere…maybe you haven’t looked EVERYWHERE…

1. Write Them Down. It’s a fact: writing down your goals gives you a higher chance of success.

2. Commit. Move beyond the land of “good ideas” to the land of true “commitment”. Make the decision that you will show up for your goals. Perhaps you can do a ritual or ceremony to symbolize your commitment.

3. Go Public. Let your biggest fans in on your new commitments and goals for the year.

4. Get Accountability. Even better than just letting others in on your “secret” dreams and goals-get some accountability. Meet for lunch once a month with a group that will ask you, “So, how’s it going with your goal?” Hire a Coach. Talk to your best friend or partner. Get some support!

5. Make a Plan. Ensure success with a step-by-step plan. I love to work backwards by starting with the end vision of where you want to be and working backwards to where you are today. You’ll find an easy action plan to make your goals a reality.

6. Do a Goal Check-In. Before you decide on what you’ll take on for the year, make certain you can answer, “YES!” to the following questions: “Am I the primary reason for setting this goal (vs. your mom, boyfriend, wife, boss, society)? Do I feel alive and energized by this goal? Is this goal in line with my life purpose or mission?”

7. Get Real! If you’re contemplating putting a goal down that you always put down and never achieve, take a second look. How will this goal end DIFFERENTLY this year? Is this goal something you need to let go of? What purpose is it serving you each year? Is this goal masking as a form of self-punishment? What is the good enough reason to truly commit?

8. Focus With Reminders. Once you’ve written down your goals, created a plan and made sure they are worthy to pursue, figure out ways to remind yourself. Some clients post their goals in on their bathroom mirror or in their car. Others put reminders in their blackberries, iPhones or cell phones. Figure out what works for you.

9. Believe and Visualize. Do you know the story about the group of basketball players who spent one hour visualizing making baskets, while another group actually practiced? The visualizing players had better seasons! So visualize yourself on New Years Eve with all your goals achieved. What would that look like? How would it feel? Visualize once a day and see the difference it can make in your life.

10. Use anchors. Tie your goal to a habit you already have in place. Perhaps you decide to do your exercise right after brushing your teeth, or practice meditation after checking email. Anchoring your new behavior and goals to an existing habit is a great tool for success.

May this year be the year that your goals and dreams manifest with ease and joy!

Information retrieved on 12/29/09 from Ezine Articles

Christmas is a special time of year and homemade Christmas gift ideas can add to the excitement of the holiday season.  Christmas shopping and gift decisions can make the season a lot less jolly, but making the gifts yourself give can make Christmas more personal and memorable. It can also help you save money too!  Getting the children involved with making the gifts can start a cherished yearly tradition.

Here is some money saving homemade Christmas gift ideas to help you show the special people in your life how much you care:

Christmas Candles:

purchase plain pillar candles (at least 3” wide) at a discount store and dress them up with ribbon, plastic berries, or gift tags.  You can also use fabric or Christmas pushpins.  Another idea is to purchase a small votive candle, a small votive holder and a wide glass vase.  Partially fill the vase with Christmas decorations – plastic holly, fake poinsettias, red/green/gold glass beads, etc. – and then place the votive in the small holder in the bottom.  You can find all kinds of decorations that will work – just use your imagination. You can spend less than $20 at a local dollar store and make up to 10 candle gifts, now that’s how to keep more money in your pocket.

Christmas baskets: purchase a large, plain, wicker basket and any type of Christmas fabric with a small print.  You will need to purchase 2 to 3 yards of fabric.  You will need fiber fill material and a 2 yard strip of elastic.  Place the fiber fill material in the bottom of the basket.  Sew the strip of elastic around the edge of the fabric.  Place the fabric in the basket so that the edge with the elastic sewn in it is covering the outer edge of the basket.

Christmas tray: purchase a plain wooden tray from a craft supplies store.  Decorate it with paints and premade Christmas designs.  (You can find all of these items at the craft supplies store.)  Another idea is to paint the tray a solid color, then place a photograph in the center of the tray.  Cover the photograph and the bottom of the tray with a thin sheet of glass.  (This will make it waterproof.)

Christmas ornaments: you have many different options for homemade Christmas ornaments.  One of the easiest ways to make homemade ornaments is to buy the plain wooden, ceramic, or glass ornaments from a craft supplies store and then decorate them yourself.  You can also make ornaments from paper.  Another idea is to get plain glass ornaments and cover them with swirled paint or use decoupage techniques to cover them with decorative paper.

Photo ornaments: purchase scrap booking supplies and several sheets of card stock.  You can use premade scrapbooking picture frames and use the card stock as the backing for the ornaments.

Homemade Christmas gift ideas are a great way to let your creativity and thriftiness shine through during a very special season of the year.  Making your Christmas gifts by hand will ensure that your gift stands out. The only thing that limits you is your budget and your imagination.

Nadia Czekajewski got braces on her teeth when she was 8. Now she’s in third grade, turning 9, and “she’ll be done before she begins fourth grade,” said her father, Tomasz Czekajewski.

“It was a wise decision to start young,” said Czekajewski, whose family lives in the Lakeview section of Chicago. “Kids are not as self-conscious at this age.”

Braces used to be another miserable part of being a teenager, but now some kids, like Nadia, start and finish orthodontic treatment long before adolescence.

But despite the allure of getting it over with young, starting early is not right for every child. Experts say it strongly depends on the treatment required.

Some children who start early end up in a second phase of treatment, with braces into the early teenage years despite having started young, according to Dr. Flavio Uribe from the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine in Farmington, Conn.

“That’s one of the criticisms of early treatment: Kids in braces for a long time,” Uribe said. “It’s controversial.”

For children with Class II malocclusion, commonly referred to as an overbite or buck teeth, “there is no advantage to starting early,” according to Dr. William Proffit, a professor at the University of North Carolina’s School of Dentistry in Chapel Hill.

Proffit said that was the conclusion of “three major, randomized clinical trials comparing the outcomes of treatment” for younger versus older children.

“Early treatment is more costly both in terms of the amount of money you have to pay and the number of visits you make, and there is a greater burden of treatment with no benefit for most children,” he said.

‘Window of opportunity’
Proffit was the author of one of the three studies that looked at early treatment for Class II malocclusion, with the other two done by researchers at the University of Florida and in the United Kingdom.

But Proffit emphasized that early treatment is beneficial for other conditions, such as a Class III malocclusion, commonly referred to as an underbite, where the lower jaw is too big or the upper jaw is too small. “You’re trying to change growth and your window of opportunity has run out by age 10. The ideal time to start would be as early as age 7,” Proffit said.

The largest group of children getting orthodontic treatment in the U.S. are those with Class I malocclusion, with crowded teeth that are either crooked or protrude. For this group, Proffit said, “early treatment works, but you have to do two phases of treatment. So they’re going to be in treatment for four years — a first phase, then a vacation, and a second phase.”

Proffit said there is one overarching reason to start early no matter what type of treatment the child will need, and that’s when teeth are so crooked or unattractive that “the child is really being teased and harassed and has psychosocial problems,” he said. “Most preadolescent kids shrug it off, but some kids are really bothered by it.”

To read the rest of the article, please visit MSNBC: Assessment at age 7

October 25, 2009 12:00 AM

• Dinner first: On Halloween night, give children an extra-nutritious dinner before trick-or-treating. It will reduce their appetite for sweets. Try a meal filled with lean protein, whole grains and vegetables. A glass of low-fat or nonfat milk adds extra nutrition.

• Nonfood treats: Consider handing out treats like themed school supplies, such as pencils and erasers, to school-age children. Small toys are also appropriate in reducing the amount of candy children eat.

• Power trick-or-treat: Plan a few extra loops around the neighborhood to tire out the kids and prepare them to hit the sack when they get home.

• Get milk: Chocolate milk after trick-or-treating is a healthy treat. It doesn’t deprive kids of the chocolate closely associated with Halloween, but provides them with great nutrition.

• Set limits: Set boundaries with your child on how many pieces of candy they’re allowed to eat on Halloween and while trick-or-treating. Allow your children to make their own selections, but tell them they can only pick a few pieces.

Sources: California Milk Processor Board and the California Dietetic Association

Less sugar, fewer calories …

Monica Reinagel, chief nutritionist for NutritionData.com, recommends that parents limit added sugar in a child’s diet to 10 percent of total calories. That works out to 50 grams of sugar a day for a 90-pound 11-year-old or 25 grams for a 40-pound 6-year-old.

More advice from Reinagel on Halloween treats and information on the amount of sugar or calories in popular candy brands that are likely to be found in your child’s Halloween treat bag can be found at nutritiondata.com.

Here are some options for treats that are lower in sugar and calories per “fun-size” serving:

• Candies with less than 20 grams of sugar

Sugarless gum

Twix peanut butter bars

Hershey’s Chocolate Almond Bites

Mr. Goodbar

Reese’s Pieces

Kit Kat

Almond Joy

Mounds

• Candies with less than 100 calories

Twizzlers Bites

Jelly beans

Bit-o-Honey York

Peppermint Pattie

Tootsie Rolls

Raisinets Skittles

Starburst

Source: NutritionData.com

(Information retrieved 10/26/09 from http://www.newbernsj.com/articles/halloween-48867-braces-children.html)