Friday, November 4, 2011
Holiday Card Design Contest: Some inspiration from last years entries!
Annual Holiday Card Contest: How to Keep Yourself in the Running for the iPad
However, amongst those 100+ entries, there were some that we couldn’t even consider because they weren’t reproducible, were not original work, or did not meet the digital file size specifications. So here’s a brief rundown of things NOT to do to keep you in the running for that iPad:
- Make sure your card design is reproducible. We got some really, REALLY cool designs last year, which we unfortunately couldn’t consider because they were three-dimensional. We loved, loved, LOVED these designs but there was no way that we could replicate hundreds of them. Keep that creativity flowing, just channel it into a one-dimensional (flat) masterpiece. These cards were AWESOME, but there was just no way we could make it work.
- Please do NOT submit anything to us that you haven’t designed yourselves! This basically means, if you googled “holiday cards” and save a cool image design you find and send it in, you WILL NOT be considered for the prize. It’s one thing to use images you find online to help create or inspire your design, but something completely different to just submit something that’s not your own work – and legally, we can't use it for our holiday card. Somebody turned this card in to us last year – it’s one of the first images that comes up when you google “holiday dove,” and unfortunately we couldn’t even consider their entry because of this.
- Pay close attention to the digital file size requirements. We got quite a few digitally designed cards last year that we had to pass on because they did not meet the specifications we gave. In order to reproduce a digital file, it needs to be a MINIMUM of 200 dpi (dots per inch) or else it will start to get blurry and pixilated. You may not realize this just looking at a file on screen, but it makes a big difference on printed materials.
If you have questions about these guidelines, please feel free to email me (Brenda) at info@oasect.com – I’m responsible for a lot of the designs you see in our office and online and am glad to help.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Dinner and a Movie with OASECT
Well, come August, we’re going for BIGGER and BETTER!
But first, chow down on wood-fired, brick-oven pizza from The Old World Pizza truck.
They will be cooking fresh, homemade pizza for us all night in addition to salad, coffee, espresso, and... GELATO (you can tell this is what I’m super psyched about)! Hailing from New Haven, The Old World Pizza truck, a restored 1942 Chevrolet, has been catering for over 30 years. Check out a selection of their pizzas and more about them here.
Then get ready to wax nostalgic about your childhoods (and share this fantastic movie with your own kids) watching, “The Sandlot.” Set in the summer of 1962, it is the story of a group of neighborhood boys, whose love for baseball is matched only by their fear of “The Beast,” a dog in the yard neighboring the sandlot where they play. When a ball autographed by Babe Ruth is hit over the fence into The Beasts domain, the boys must devise a plan to get it back. A sweet and funny coming-of-age adventure, this movie reminds you of what was important to yourself as a 12-year-old.
Check out a trailer for it:
To R.S.V.P. all you have to do is go to http://oasect.eventbrite.com/ and let us know how many people are coming.
See you there!!!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Club Starfish at OASECT!
The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that children visit the orthodontist by the age of 7 for a growth and development assessment. Club Starfish is an exciting club for patients in our practice who are destined for full braces one day, but who aren’t quite there just yet. Club Starfish is open to all OASECT patients who have completed a new patient exam and are seeing Drs. Kozlowski, O’Leary, and Hack growth and development observation appointments.
Growth and development appointments are important for monitoring your growth and determining the perfect time to initiate your orthodontic treatment. At these important observation appointments we want to ensure that your jaws are growing as expected, your teeth are erupting as anticipated, and that your bite is developing correctly. The cool part is we can monitor your growth before we even place braces on your teeth.
Club Starfish also welcomes patients who have completed a first phase of treatment with a second phase around the reef!
Club Starfish members receive their own special tee shirt and an awesome Club Starfish Passport with lots of opportunities to earn Sand Dollar Rewards, which can be redeemed for cool prizes like activity books, something from our toy chest, movie tickets, or gift cards!
Some examples of things you can do to earn Sand Dollar Rewards are:
Completing a New Patient Exam
Wearing your Club Starfish shirt to your observation appointment
Becoming our fan on facebook
Reading 10 books between appointments
Losing a baby tooth
Participating on a sports team
Earning an A on your report card
And many more!
Here is our VERY FIRST Club Starfish member, Tahir!
Don’t miss out on all the fun! Join Club Starfish at your next appointment! “Sea” ya soon!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Goodbye Gooey Impressions: Cadent iOC system powered by iTero!
Fast forward nearly 10 years, and enter a cutting edge technology- the Cadent iOC digital impression system powered by their iTero scanner - and we just got two of them here at Orthodontic Associates of Southeastern Connecticut- We will be using them for new patients starting treatment with us!
Our clinical assistants have been busy training to learn to use the iTero scanners, and I volunteered to let Diane practice scanning on me so that I could tell you all about the experience! I’m writing this to explain the patient experience, as I am one of the team members here at OASECT with very little clinical knowledge-I do technology management here so I work almost exclusively managing our computer equipment and network.
Let me start off by saying that I am a big baby when it comes to my teeth. I have hated going to the dentist ever since I was a child and had a really traumatic tooth extraction. So I went into it a little apprehensive, but curious nonetheless.
Diane explained to me that essentially, what she would be doing is taking images of each individual tooth, my bite, and palate, and putting them together like a puzzle. The iTero scanner uses both optical and laser scanning technology to create a 3D virtual replica of your teeth. There is NO radiation, as it is not an x-ray, and provides a more accurate and precise model of your teeth than conventional impressions ever could.
The iTero scan was very, very cool. It was almost unreal to watch as my teeth appeared on the screen. Diane explained each step to me as she was doing them, so I was able to understand how what she was doing translated into the digital model that appeared before me. The screen showed a real time image of my teeth and what the scanner was going to capture, and as she scanned each section it was automatically built into the digital model. See it as it happens here:
It was way more comfortable than a traditional impression; the only thing I really noticed was that the iTero blows air to help keep tooth surfaces dry as you are scanning- so you will definitely want a sip of water when you are done.
Here is what a finished digital impression looks like:
Pretty cool, huh?