Educating Future Dental Professionals!

Did you know that in addition to being the best orthodontist in town, Dr. Davis is also very hands-on with educating future orthodontists, dental assistants, and hygienists! Our team at Davis Orthodontics can often be found demonstrating techniques and procedures to students that spend time “shadowing” Dr. Davis and his staff. This year alone, we have hosted four students from various schools in our area.This provides them with the opportunity to learn more about the field of orthodontics and what goes on in an orthodontic practice.

Several weeks ago a pre-med student from the University of South Carolina came and spent three days with us. During her time with us Amanda was able to watch Dr. Davis interact with patients and actually see the process of braces being put on their teeth.

Then, Benjamin Smith spent the day with Dr. Davis. Benjamin is a student at Northside Middle School who was taking part in his school’s Job Shadow day. On Job Shadow days students are excused from their normal class schedule to spend one full day investigating a career they may be interested in pursuing in the future! Being one of our current patients, Benjamin was able to experience a visit to the orthodontist from the perspective of the doctor and his assistants. He watched closely as the assistants did things like changing and adjusting wires, and changing “o-ties” (the colored bands on braces).

Another student that we've recently had the pleasure of spending time with is Summer Rogers. Summer, a truly dedicated student from Pleasant Hill Middle School, spent a day on her Spring break shadowing Dr. Davis. Summer is very interested in orthodontics and the possibility of following that career path one day. Like Benjamin, Summer is one of our current patients, and during her visit was able to see up-close procedures that she previously experienced as a patient. 

Dr. Davis with Summer

Currently, we are excited to be working with Katie Anderson, a student from Fortis College! Katie has been working in our office for several weeks completing the “clinical” portion of her program. Working in an office is an essential part of dental and orthodontic education because Katie is getting the experience she will need when she begins her career as a certified dental assistant after completing her program in just a few short weeks!

Dr. Davis with Katie

We enjoy every time we get the chance to help educate students about orthodontics and help them determine if this is the career they want for their future.

In addition to hosting students in our office, Dr. Davis personally works with several schools in the Midlands. He can often be found speaking at career days in Lexington 2 Middle schools and Clark Middle School in Orangeburg, as well as talking about Dental Hygiene at Elementary schools such as East Point Academy in West Columbia, and Meadow Glen Elementary in Lexington. Also, once a year he is the guest lecturer at Midlands Technical College during their orthodontic laboratory course. 

Leading a Career Course at Clark Middle School

Midlands Technical College

Strides for Autism- Davis Orthodontics style!

Here at Davis Orthodontics we are gearing up for a busy April. April is National Autism month, and Autism Awareness is our chosen philanthropy!

Some information: Currently in the United States 1 in every 88 children are born with Autism Spectrum Disorder. About 1,500,000 people in the U.S. (over 42,000 in South Carolina) have some form of autism, with experts believing this is a conservative figure. It's prevalence rate places it as one of the three most common developmental disabilities-- more common than Down Syndrome. Yet the majority of the public, including some professionals in the medical, educational, and vocational fields are still unaware of how autism affects behavior. Progress is being made in developing more effective teaching methods and other interventions for individuals with Autism. In 1972 a group of dedicated parents of children with Autism banded together to form the South Carolina Autism Society. The SCAS has been a United Way participant since 1976, other financial support come from memberships, donations, grants, and fundraisers...this is where WE come in!
         
SCAS and Davis Orthodontics: Autism Awareness is important to Dr. Davis for many reasons, but most importantly because of his involvement in the lives of South Carolina's youth. Here in our practices we are lucky enough to work closely with children on a daily basis, and we know firsthand that no two people are alike. We strive to live by example of treating all of our patients, friends, and people we meet with the same friendly and welcoming attitude. There are a lot of misconceptions and "unknowns" in the U.S. and in our community about this disorder. For example, Autism is not a mental illness, it is not an unruly child unwilling to change their behavior, and is not caused by bad parenting or psychological factors. The South Carolina Autism Society works with one goal in mind and that is for every individual in South Carolina with Autism Spectrum disorder to be able to reach their maximum potential. This is done by spreading awareness of the disorder, furthering advancement of educational programs for individuals with Autism, ensuring proper and quality medical treatment options are made available to all individuals with Autism, and helping Autistic individuals integrate into all parts of our community. 

On May 4th the SCAS is holding the Midlands Strides for Autism at the Cayce Riverfront Park. The staff here at Davis Orthodontics will be walking as a team in the event along with our friends and family members. We inviting all patients, colleagues, and friends to walk with our team in the event. Here in our offices we are asking our patients to get involved, too! During the month of April Dr. Davis will donate $5 to the cause for every patient that chooses to get blue bands on their braces in honor of Autism Awareness. We can see up to 200 patients each week, so with your help we can make a great donation! 

Here is some information about participating in the Strides for Autism walk!

Where: Cayce Riverfront Park (entrance next to the old New Orleans restaurant over the Gervais St bridge)

When: Saturday May 4th, 2013

Registration:  Anyone may walk for free!! If you would like an event t-shirt you can make an individual donation of $25, or a family donation of $50 for 4 event t-shirts!

How to walk with Davis Orthodontics: Let us know you're interested! You can also make donations of any size through our team, just bring them to either of our office locations!

*much of the information on this page was provided from the SCAS website, for more information please visit http://www.scautism.org/

Children's Dental Health Month

Did you know that February was children's dental health month? We did! Dr. Davis got the super fun opportunity to visit the Kindergartners and Preschoolers at Meadow Glen Elementary! We had a blast! Dr. Davis talked to the kids about how and when they should brush their teeth, how many teeth you have as a kid and how many teeth you have as a grown-up, and also some things that can happen to our teeth! It seemed that a lot of the kids had already lost their first tooth, or had teeth that were loose! And everyone knew that too much candy can cause cavities!!! The children got to watch a movie about visiting the Dentist, and then Dr. Davis read them a book about a bear who looses his first tooth!

We really appreciate Mrs. Holladay and the other teachers at Meadow Glen letting us come visit! We hope we can come back soon!

A Night on the Town... and other fun things!

 We are running a great contest right now for our patients! Our prize pack will give one lucky winner and 3 friends or family members a fun-filled night on the town! The winner will receive dinner for 4 at Wild Wing Cafe, 4 passes for all of the attractions at Frankie's Fun Park, and 4 movie passes to Regal Cinemas!

Patient's can earn up to 3 entries, so that's three chances for your name to be drawn on April 1st! Here's what you have to do:

1. "Like" Davis Orthodontics on Facebook- 1 entry

2. Make a status about why you love us and "tag" Davis Orthodontics in your post- 1 entry

3. Write a review of Davis Orthodontics on Google, Yahoo, or the Rewards Hub (click on the links to get there faster)- 1 entry

Tomorrow is the last day in February which means you still have an entire month to complete your entries to get the chance to win! Just picture a night of laser tag, go karts, putt-putt, arcade games, chicken wings, french fries, and a great movie.....that's almost too much fun to handle! Whether you take your family or some friends, this is will be a night to remember.

Please feel free to give us a call, or stop by the office if you have questions. Our entry forms are located at either of our offices at the front desk! Good luck!

Happy Valentine's Day

 

 

 

Can you believe that it is middle of February already?  Well, since the world didn't explode last December and we all realized on December 22 that had to go on with our lives, we have been full steam ahead here at Davis Orthodontics.  Thanks to you all we ended up with a great 2012 and we are looking forward to a fabulous 2013. 

 

As we entered this year thinking of new ways to improve your experience, we have committed ourselves to bringing you the best customer service possible.  We have and continue to expand our knowledge in making your visits the best part of your day. 

I would also like to welcome Kristal and Layne to our office.  Kristal takes care of all of our scheduling and helping us keep on time.  Layne is in charge of our office marketing.  She directs our office contest and our community outreach.  We are blessed to have them join our team. 

I also wanted to let you all know of a new orthodontic device we have available in our office.  It is called the Acceledent.  This device is a bite piece that you bite on and it places small sonic pulses to the bone that holds the teeth.  This causes the bone remodeling to happen at a faster pace which translates to faster treatment.  Studies have shown that patients receive a 30-50% reduction in treatment time. We have been using the device since November and our patients using the device have shown quicker alignment as well as decreased discomfort.  We would be happy to show you this device at your next appointment.  Just ask myself or one of our team members for information. 

February is also Dental Health Month.  I will be doing a couple of talks at area elementary schools teaching 5-7 year olds on proper brushing techniques. This is also a good time for each of us to re-examine our oral hygiene habits.  I'm sure that there is room for improvement for all of us, including ME!

Well, it's been a while since I've done this last.  Actually forgot what username this was under, so now that I have it, you know what we do......we write it down.  Very similar experience that I had with my dry cleaning.  I was able to pick up shirts from November 2011 with a phone number that I hadn't use in a while.  2011!!!  Okay file that under "Didn't really need to know" stuff. 

This has been a very exciting last half of the year here at DO.  We have hired three new team members!  Heather has been helping us in the operatory since September and has done an outstanding job.  We hired Kristal as our scheduling coordinator two weeks ago and will welcome Lane as our Public Relations Coordinator in January. 

Kathy Boykin's last day is today.  She has been working in the orthodontic field for over 30 years.  She has been my office manager for 12.  She is leaving a legacy here and will be deeply missed.  She will be enjoying her time off with her husband and visiting with those three grandbabies she has. 

I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a properous new year (that is if the Myans don't get us..... only 12 more hours till 12/21/12).  I'll update you on some new and exciting developments that will be happening with Davis Orthodontics when we get back from the break!

Dr. D

Welcome to Davis Orthodontics's first blog post.  This is a new thing for me and we will have to see how well it goes.  This summer is running by fast. We have done so much this summer for our practice and patients that it all is starting to run together.  I have to thank everyone on the participation of our summer contest - the "You Brushed Where?" picture contest.  To be honest, we all were a little worried at the beginning of the summer when there were no pictures sent.  But you guys went full steam ahead in July and we have got some remarkable pictures.  The best is that it gives us an insight into your private lives and lets us know what things you enjoy (other than coming to visit us). It is going to be hard to decide on who wins. 

I have been hard at work in my "extra" time (haha) perfecting a new website, which I guess that most of you found this blog through the new site.  I am very proud of this site and hope that you all will find very useful and fun information on it.  Along with that we are starting our patient reward program, called Patient Hub.  You will be able to earn points everytime you come into the office to redeem for iTunes cards, Best Buy cards, Amazon card, Target cards, etc.  There are so many choices to name.  I hope that you get excited as well all are when this program starts. 

Well I'm gonna post this to see if it works.  Check back for more information.