Before and After: Abby

We would like you to meet Abby.  Abby is a former patient of ours, and we think she has an incredible smile.  We'd like to take a second to tell you about it.

When Abby first came to our office to get braces, she was a beautiful red-headed girl with a great, bright smile.  However, her smile had a few issues with alignment, spacing, and teeth shape.

If you take a look at a close-up picture of her smile before she began her treatment, you can see some of these issues.  Problems with spacing are visible, and you can see that her teeth are overcrowded, so much so that they actually point in towards her mouth, rather that staying mostly straight up and down.  

Besides these problems, Abby admits that her teeth also bothered her on an emotional level.  "I've always had issues and worries with my teeth."  Her smile is the last thing we want a beautiful girl like Abby worrying about.

But, check out the difference her treatment made:

Not only are her teeth more aligned, they are also now spaced out evenly.  There are no more issues with over-crowding, and they are all shaped uniformly.  And how does Abby feel about her new teeth?

"My new smile makes me feel really happy when I look in a mirror," she says.  

One thing to note.  As you can see from Abby's pictures, she began her treatment when she was still fairly young, right after most of her baby teeth had been lost.  She's a great example of the benefits of starting your braces treatment early on, so that new teeth can be trained to grow in correctly, aligned with the others.  

Thank you, Abby, for letting us be a part of helping you have such a bright smile!  If you're interested in finding out how we can be a part of your smile story, contact us today at 806.799.6780!

Meet Gwen!

You've probably seen Gwen Martin many times when you come into the office. She is one of our treatment coordinators here at St. Clair Orthodontics, and we are proud to say that she has been with us for 20 years. Gwen's job is to explain to a patient and their family how braces work, what their treatment will look like, and cover financial information. Whenever you first came into our office, you probably met with Gwen or someone like her, and she walked you through what things would be like for you.

Gwen loves the work she gets to do with all of our patients. Her favorite aspect of her work is meeting new patients and getting to build a relationship with them throughout their treatment time. She also loves getting to help each one of them achieve the perfect smile they've always wanted.

Besides developing relationships with all of you, family is incredibly important to Gwen. If you talk to her for very long, she'll definitely share with you about her beautiful granddaughter, 20 month old Tenley June, who loves to call Gwen "Mimzie." In just a few months, Gwen will have even more to share: granddaughter Suri Gray is due at the beginning of the summer.

Gwen's close family ties are also seen in her strong relationships with her husband, Dale (they have been married for 29 years, which we think is really cool!), her son, Matt, and her daughter, Natalie, as well as her mom and her sister. Since everyone lives pretty close to the Lubbock area, Gwen gets to spend a lot of her time with family (and she wouldn't have it any other way!)

Here are a few other things you might not know about Gwen: if she could go anywhere in the world, she would definitely pick the beach. She loves to be active, and her favorite food is Mexican (delicioso, right?!). Of all the people she could meet, at the very top of her list is Charles Stanley, a man who has dedicated his life to teaching God's truth boldly, and in a way that has really touched Gwen's heart.

Now that you know more about Gwen, be sure and tell her hi the next time you see her in the office. She really loves our patients, and your smiles make her day!

Meet Stacy

Remember those awkward pictures you had to take before you got your braces on: the ones where we put all kinds of things in your mouth and make it stretch farther than you ever thought it could?

If you do remember them, you also remember Stacy. She's the one behind the camera, who can make you laugh even when you have lots of things in your mouth.

Stacy has been a part of our St. Clair's team for seven years, working as our Records Coordinator. It's her job to make sure that we have pictures of what your smile looked like before you had braces, how it changes throughout the time of your treatment, and what the amazing final result looks like when your treatment is complete.

While she does her job well, there is so much more that Stacy does that goes beyond her job description. She makes you feel comfortable as soon as you meet her, and she will remember who you are the next time she sees you. Our office is definitely a much more enjoyable place to be because of her presence.

When she's not taking pictures in our office, Stacy enjoys shopping and reading a good book. Her favorite food is anything Italian, and she loves to take her nieces out for pizza. She also happens to be a Lady Gaga fan (how's that for something you might not have known about her?).

We can't tell you enough how thankful we are that Stacy is a part of our team. The next time you see her in the office, be sure and say hi to her (just make sure you do that before you have to put all the awkward things in your mouth).

Before and After: Ms. Platt

Our featured patient before and after story for February is Ms. Platt. Ms. Platt is one of our Clovis patients, and we loved getting to work with her, and to be a part of her smile transformation.

Here is a picture of what Ms. Platt's smile looked like before the braces. We definitely think she has always had a beautiful smile, but she wasn't pleased with the fact that her chin went so far forward.

If you look at a close-up of her teeth, you can also see that she had a slight underbite, which means that her top teeth actually went behind her bottom ones. Besides the underbite, you can also notice that her teeth seemed to angle in somewhat. None of these are huge cosmetic fixes, but we were definitely excited to help give Ms. Platt the smile she wanted!

After about 14 months of treatment, we have a completely different smile! The underbite is corrected, and the top and bottom teeth don't angle in any longer.

Ms. Platt's treatment consisted of changing her wires every 8-10 weeks and wearing rubber bands to help draw her teeth into better alignment.

When we asked her about her experience with us, and how she feels about her new smile, Ms. Platt said, "It was a very good experience, everyone in the office was so nice. I now show more confidence because my underbite is corrected!"

We also love the way her new smile really lights up her entire face. With the corrections made through our treatments, it really stretches out more, immediately drawing your attention to how beautiful it is. Julia Roberts, anyone?

Are you interested in being one of our amazing before and after stories? If so, contact our office today, and begin your smile transformation!

Meet Tammi!

What's not to love about Tammi? Besides the fact that she's been at St. Clair's for 20 years (yes, you read that right. She was 10 when she started!), she's one of the most energetic, fun people to be around.

Tammi grew up in Lubbock and has lived here since she was young. She loves this area and the people here, and wouldn't want to call anywhere else home. She takes a lot of joy in getting to know our patients and be a part of their lives, and she truly loves the co-workers she gets to work with (we think she's pretty great, too!).

Tammi works as on orthodontic assistant and clinical coordinator, which means you've probably seen her at the front desk and in the back when you get your braces on or have a check-up.

When she's not working, Tammi loves to be outside, working out, spending time with friends, or getting a nice tan. She loves a good steak (good thing she lives in Texas, right?), and one of her hobbies is music. In fact, when asked one person she would really love to meet some day, her answer was Adele--just so she could teach Tammi how to sing like her.

We happen to love your voice the way it is Tammi, and we're so thankful we get to work with you!

Be sure and tell Tammi hi the next time you're in the office. If you're really nice, she might even sing for you :).

Before and After: Krystiana

One of the things we love most here at St. Clair's is the transformation we get to see in the smiles of our patients. Krystiana's transformation is an incredible one.

When she first came to us, she was a beautiful girl, but she really wanted to see a change in her smile. After time with us, and after using the awesome Damon technology, Krystiana got to experience the change she was looking for.
She says:

"I love my smile! I have more confidence and Iove the compliments I get on my smile! I thank St. Clair for everything they have done to help make my smile so amazing. All the time, all I wanna do is smile!"

We thought Krystiana always had a great smile, but now it's one she is even more confident in sharing with others. The transformation has been surprising, even for those who saw her everyday:

"My friends were all amazed to see my final results. When my friends say they are wanting braces I recommend St. Clair."

But, the best news we can get is a smile that never stops--that's a true sign of success. And with Krystiana, we think we got just that:

"I must admit I have never smiled as much as I do now! Thank you so much St. Clair!"

You are more than welcome, Krystiana--we hope you never stop smiling!

Meet Sandra!

Have you ever wanted to know just a little bit more about the people that work at St. Clair's Orthodontics? It really only seems fair, since they already know a whole lot about you!

Once a month we want to feature one of our great staff members, and give you a little more information about him or her.

First up is Sandra Peterson. You've all seen her at the front desk, and made your next appointment with her. Sandra is the appointment coordinator at St. Clair's, and it's her job to make sure we don't schedule everyone to come see us all at once.

Here is just a little more you might not have known about Sandra:

Next month will mark her sixth year at St. Clair's. Her favorite thing about working here is getting to be the first person you see when you walk in, and getting to see your beautiful smile when you're done with your braces.

Before Sandra came to be part of our time, she grew up in Abilene, and went to college at Tech.

But besides working at St. Clair's, Sandra also loves to garden, entertain guests, hang out with girlfriends, and be Grandma to two really cute grandsons. Her favorite place to vacation is Paradise Island in the Bahamas, and she plans on taking the entire office staff there this summer (just kidding, Sandra!). She also really likes Mexican food, but found it was hard to eat with braces. She also would love to meet Richard Gere someday--she happens to think he's pretty good looking!

We hope you'll say hi to Sandra the next time you're in the office. Not only is she really good at her job, she also loves getting to see our patients. Make sure you show her your smile!