Pasta pomodorini, a delicious and braces-friendly fall recipe! From Scher Orthodontics

Fall is here, and sometimes we here at Scher Orthodontics just feel like a hot delicious meal is in order. Our friends at the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) made an appetizing (and braces-friendly!) fall dish that is sure to delight. Dr. Scher would like to remind you that a healthy diet provides essential nutrients and helps you achieve the best possible result from your orthodontic treatment.

Pasta Pomodorini
Ingredients:
•¾ pound spaghetti or spaghetti
•¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
•¼ cup sliced garlic
•½ teaspoon finely minced Calabrian chilies, or 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
•1 pint small cherry tomatoes, stems removed, crushed between your thumb and forefinger
•Sea salt, preferably gray salt
•½ cup fresh basil leaves, each torn into 2 or 3 pieces
•Wedge of Parmesan cheese

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta. While the pasta cooks, heat the 1/4 cup olive oil in a large skillet over moderate heat. Add the garlic and cook until the slivers are golden brown and crisp, then add the chilies and cook for about 30 seconds. Raise the heat to high and add the tomatoes. Simmer briskly to soften the tomatoes and thicken the juices, about 3 minutes. Season with salt. When the pasta is al dente, scoop out about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the warm pot off the heat. Add the sauce and the basil and mix well. Add some of the reserved cooking water if the pasta seems dry. Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and grate Parmesan over the top to taste. Drizzle with a little more olive oil. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

Enjoy this great fall dish and have a great rest of the week!

Helping you prepare for cold and flu season, from Scher Orthodontics

Traditionally cold and flu season starts in Fall, but this year it seems to have started much earlier and with the number of patients canceling appointments because of flu and H1N1 symptoms Scher Orthodontics is taking additional precautions to help prevent the spread of germs.

To promote a healthy and clean environment, we give a great deal of attention to sanitation and sterilization in our office at all times as well as following all requirements for sterilizing instruments and work surfaces.

For the protection of other patients and our staff, we always ask that patients reschedule their appointments if they have any type of cold or illness that can infect others.

Maintaining and protecting oral hygiene equipment is also important this flu season. To protect your toothbrush from bacteria follow these steps:

• Wash your hands before and after brushing
• Allow the brush to air dry after each use, harmful bacteria dies after being exposed to oxygen
• Store the toothbrush in an upright position to allow water to drain and dry faster
• Replace toothbrush after every cold or flu or every 3-4 months when bristles appear worn
Hope this helps and give us a call if you have any questions! Stay healthy!

Dr. Scher wants to know: What are you up to in November?

October is long gone, and—believe it or not—we’re almost in full holiday mode! But before we forget about the spooky month that just wrapped up, we’d like to know how you celebrated Halloween! What did you wear? How much candy did you get? Did you have fun?

If you have any photos or videos that you would like to share with us, please send them our way! We hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween! Also, what are you up to this month? Anything exciting happening in your life? Are you planning on taking a vacation? We'd love to hear all about it.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

--Dr. Scher and the team at Scher Orthodontics.

Let Dr. Scher know how he's doing!

Whether you have visited Dr. Scher for a week or for years, we’d love to hear your feedback about your experience with Scher Orthodontics! Now with the Internet, it’s even easier to write your thoughts and share them with the world. We'd want to encourage you to write a review of us. It only takes a moment!

You can review him here. Thank you and have a great rest of the week.

--Dr. Scher and team