Last week a group of *Utah Bloggers got together to network and learn more about the process of finding an Orthodontist and then braces in general. The event was hosted by Dr. John Pobanz of Pobanz Orthodontics with Elisa from MMB and Janet from Newspapergrl.com
Upon walking in the door, these local bloggers were already networking away—even landing business deals in the lobby! We listened to Dr. John’s staff as they walked us through the process of how braces work, why you should get braces and the various questions you should ask the orthodontists that you are interviewing.
They also showed us some of the fun ways Dr. John celebrates their patients—from snowboard incentives, good grade incentives, candy buy-back programs and I-pad incentives. Yes. I-PADS.
Then they showed us the infamous “You Got Your Braces Off Dance” complete with either awesome disco music or a Mariachi band. Dr. John has his own YouTube Channel where he posts the braces off dance and then he sends each person celebrating a copy of their dance routine.
I personally thought the celebration dance is a brilliant idea! It’s a big day when you get your braces off—and teens (and adults) want to celebrate. While they pretend to be “too cool to dance” you can see the sheer joy from those getting their braces off!
ADVANTAGES OF POBANZ ORTHODONTICS
The one thing that stands out about Dr. John’s office is that he is on the cutting edge of technology. Not just Damon Braces, Sure Smile and Invisalign technology but Technology in general. He allows patients to not only access their accounts online but to make appointments online as well. Then, not only will you receive email reminders but text message reminders regarding your appointments. For busy Mothers, that is a huge help!
Dr. John is also on Twitter, Facebook and has an excellent blog where he shares tips and tricks for a beautiful smile!
Dr. John currently participates in several study groups—including the Damon Braces Study Club. Damon Braces is the new cutting edge technology in braces that decreases the amount of time you are actually in braces.
HOW TO STOP THUMB SUCKING
An interesting conversation took place while we were waiting for our turns to get our impressions made for our teeth whitening kits. Amber, from Soggy Cheerios, was lamenting that her child is seven and still sucking their thumb. We all had stories to tell about various ways to stop the thumb sucking when Dr. John jumped into the conversation.
He stated that the antiquated way to get children to stop sucking their thumbs is by using a palatal arch or—as we Moms called it—the poky thing. The arch gets in the way of the child sucking their thumb or fingers by inflicting pain. It creates a negative experience for the child and isn’t very successful.
However, there is a new device out called The Bluegrass. It was invented by a Dentist who also happens to work with race horses. When race horses get out of control in the race gates, waiting for the race to begin, they put a bit in their mouth with two beads on it. The horse immediately calms down by spinning the beads on the bit with their tongues. The Dentist wondered if the same theory would apply to thumb-suckers.He created this device called The Bluegrass which is an appliance put across the top of your mouth with two beads on it. The theory is that you are replacing one behavior with another—playing with their beads.
Dr. John stated that this device to stop thumb-sucking or finger-sucking is 99% effective.
How can you argue with that?
He told us several stories of individuals—some still in their twenty’s—who were still sucking their thumbs at night, but desperately wanting to quit. The Bluegrass effectively helped them quit—some the very same day.
SEO TIPS
Janet Thaeler from www.newspapergrl.com shared her vast knowledge on how to make your blog more searchable. I walked away from that presentation having personally learned a lot of new information that I am very excited to put into practice.
Janet gave us several websites to use to track the most popular keyword searches and then how to use those keywords in our blog posts thus making it easier for Google (and readers) to find our posts. Check out www.freekeywords.wordtracker.com and www.google.com/insights/search – both sites are fantastic ways to see what key phrases are most searched so that you can then make your blog more searchable.
We ended the event with a fantastic lunch and Dr. John showing us various case studies he has been a part of with regards to braces and various technology. It was incredible to see the changes in people’s appearance in just 11 short months of visiting Dr. John’s office. He is aggressive in his treatment—and the outcomes are outstanding. Without hesitation, I think all in attendance would say that if you are looking for an Orthodontist in Utah, you should seriously consider Pobanz Orthodontics!
It was a fantastic time networking with local bloggers and learning more about the services available to us in our community.
We will be having more events like this in the future and if you are interested in attending please send us an email at info@mormonmommyblogs.com
*Chris, Amber, Janet, Veronica, Lori, Lesa, Kendra, Jessica, Cassie, Andrea, Judy, Elisa, Dr. John
