10-26-16
What is one of the most important things a patient can do to ensure that their treatment progresses in a timely manner and reaches the goals for treatment that have been set… WEAR THEIR ELASTICS!
What is one of the most challenging things for patients to remember to do when they also have to be responsible for going to school, doing their homework, studying for tests, practicing their sport, hanging out with their friends, living their life… WEAR THEIR ELASTICS!
What’s a concerned orthodontist to do???
I decided to develop an app. An app that would remind patients to change their elastics twice a day, replace them if they’ve been removed, and help them remember to WEAR THEIR ELASTICS!
Why are elastics so important? Why do we ask our patients at each and every appointment how well they have been wearing their elastics? Why are you always nagging us Dr. Remington???
Okay, here’s why… Each orthodontic appliance that you wear, whether it is an expander, a headgear, bite blocks, a bite plane, elastics, or even the braces themselves, has a very different and distinct job to do when it comes to correcting your smile. Imagine that your smile is a three dimensional puzzle. Each orthodontic appliance that you wear, is a piece of that puzzle. If any of the pieces are missing, the puzzle never gets completed, hence we cannot put all the pieces of your smile together.
If your treatment plan calls for you to wear braces and elastics, but you’re not wearing your elastics, or you’re not wearing them the required number of hours per day, you are only completing 50% of your puzzle, the 50% that is covered by the braces, and because it is solely your responsibility to remember to wear the elastics, it means that you are 100% responsible for that remaining 50% of the puzzle. That means I can’t do it without you!
The biggest reason I hear for elastics not being worn as required is that our patients remove them for one reason or another, and they forget to put them back in. Well, Smile-tastic! is here to save the day! Download the app today and success for your 50% will be in the bag. I will make the Smile-tastic! app available to my patients at no charge. It is also available at the iTunes store and the Google Play store for a fee. It’s like having me with you all the time giving you a gentle reminder to WEAR YOUR ELASTICS!
Let’s make you Smile-tastic!
See You Next Week!