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Happy Independence Day from Dr. Allen and team! The Fourth of July celebrations in America may have changed a lot over the years, but there is no doubt that we Americans love to celebrate the anniversary of our country's independence! Today we're devoting the Davis Orthodontics blog to some fun facts about the Fourth!

• My, how we have grown! This year the United States Census Bureau estimates that our country has 313.9 million residents celebrating the Fourth of July this year, but back in 1776 there were just 2.5 million members of the country.
• Our country loves to show how proud that we are of our independence. Did you know that there are 31 United States places with the word “Liberty” in their names? The state of Iowa actually has four towns with the word Liberty in the name: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty, and West Liberty.
• The United States loves Fourth of July food! It is expected that around 150 million hot dogs are eaten on the Fourth each year. One of the Fourth's most popular sides, potato salad, goes just perfectly with the hotdogs and hamburgers that are standard Fourth of July fare. Some people choose potato chips instead, but we wouldn't have such a plethora of potatoes if not for the prodigious production of the states of Idaho and Washington -- they provide about half of all the potatoes in the United States today!
• Americans love celebrating the Fourth outdoors: About 74 million Americans fire up their BBQ grill every Fourth of July.
• The Chinese contribution: Did you know that Americans have spent more than $211 million on fireworks that were imported from China?

No matter how your family chooses to celebrate the Fourth, stay safe, take precautions, and don't forget to brush after your fabulous Fourth feast!

Congratulations! You have made the decision to get orthodontic treatment at our San Diego office. Now it’s time to choose among your various appliance options. Traditional metal brackets and wires, lingual braces, a series of aligners—they all have positives to recommend them. And for some people, ceramic braces are the clear favorite.

Ceramic braces work like regular metal braces. Brackets are bonded to the front of each tooth, and rubber bands surrounding the brackets hold the arch wire that gradually moves the teeth into alignment.

Ceramic braces, however, use brackets made of clear or tooth-colored ceramic or porcelain which blend beautifully with the color of your tooth. The elastic ligatures, or rubber bands, can be chosen to match the brackets or your enamel. There are self-ligating ceramic brackets which don’t use bands at all. Technology is even working on ways to make the arch wire less visible! The end result is braces that are almost undetectable.

If you want a less obvious appliance for professional or personal reasons, talk to us about ceramic braces. As always, there are other factors to consider before you decide, which we will be happy to discuss with you.

• Ceramic brackets are very strong, but they are still more brittle than the metal model. If you play a contact sport, these might not be for you. (But whatever braces you choose, please wear a mouthguard when playing sports.)
• Ceramic braces might not be ideal depending on the amount of alignment and bite correction that is needed. They might also take a bit more time to bring your teeth into alignment. We will be able to tell you if ceramic braces will work for you and if they might require a longer period to move your teeth to their perfect position.
• Brackets can sometimes be somewhat larger (though this isn’t always the case), and, because they can be abrasive, are often recommended for upper teeth only. This way, the lower teeth will not impact, or be impacted by, contact with the upper teeth.
• Oral hygiene can trickier with ceramic braces. Although today’s brackets aren’t as prone to staining, you still need to be careful to brush away the plaque that can accumulate around the brackets. And the bands are susceptible to staining by the usual suspects—coffee, tea, colas, blueberries, or any strongly colored food or beverage.
• Costs will differ depending on the treatment method you choose. Talk to us about cost comparisons with other orthodontic treatments.

Ceramic braces, because they are so much less visible, are a popular orthodontic option, especially for older teenagers and adults. If you are interested, talk to Dr. Allen about this effective way to straighten your teeth—discreetly. Ceramic might be the clear solution for creating your lasting, beautiful smile.

June Greetings from Davis Orthodontics. We hope all our patients and their families are safe and healthy. As many or all of you might know, Davis Orthodontics reopened on May 18th. We are ready to see you! Call our office today to schedule your next appointment.

We are committed to providing the safest possible environment for our patients and employees. We want you to feel absolutely comfortable coming to our office for your orthodontic treatment. Some of our new health implementations are closing our waiting room and only allowing patients to enter the office (however, one parent is allowed if necessary), installing multiple sneeze guard barriers throughout the office, every other chair scheduled for social distancing purposes, and our back staff will be wearing extra PPE like face shields, gowns, and booties in addition to the facemasks and gloves already worn.

When patients arrive at our office they should wait in their car and call the office. We will meet the patient at the door to take temperature reading and ask screening questions prior to escorting the patient into the office. We are also adding virtual appointments to reduce the times you need to come into the office. We may do this for many consultations and recall appointments! We thank everyone for complying and helping us stay healthy.

With restaurants closed and more meals made and shared at home, it’s a great time to challenge ourselves with new recipes. For your next dinner try Dr. Davis' easy “Microwave Corn on the Cob” recipe, here are the directions:

1. Leave husk on the corn.
2. Put 2 corn on the cobs in the microwave on a paper plate.
3. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, turn over, then on high for 2 more minutes.
4. Remove husks.
5. Spread butter and enjoy!

Dr. Davis is eager for a return to normalcy and for more businesses to open and events to start up again. He misses going to a restaurant, going to movie theaters and concerts, and of course, he misses watching sports!

Stay positive! We'll get through this and be all the stronger for it! We hope to see you at Davis Orthodontics again soon.

Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. Please check back often for weekly updates on fun and exciting events happening at our office, important and interesting information about orthodontics, and the latest news about our practice.

Feel free to leave a comment or question for our doctor and staff – we hope this will be a valuable resource for our patients, their families, and friends!