 Hello, everybody. Andrea Mayasky here with dental tutoring. So I've been getting some messages lately and I figured it's about time to do a video on this. I've talked about clinic before, so this is a video about how to get your patients for clinic when you're in school and You need to see patients to pass. I might have done a video on this before a while ago, but I couldn't find it So I figure I'll do another one. I'll give you some tips and tricks really of how I was able to get my patients. If you haven't watched the video yet, I explained how I did take the hygiene program twice. Not because I failed, but because the first time I took the program, the school went bankrupt and shut down about three weeks before we were supposed to graduate. So I took the whole thing again. But when I was in the hygiene programs the first time, all I basically did was I was able to get friends and family to come in because I lived in the same city as I took the program. But the second time I lived about two hours away and even my close friends, even my family didn't want to travel the two hours to come see me because it does take an upwards of seven appointments two and a half hours each for your patients, right? So you might be in the same situation where even if your friends and family wanted to come, they couldn't and you need to find other patients in order to do so. So I find it's all about how you approach people and how you advertise, okay? If you're talking to somebody who let's say you just became friends with some with them, somebody you moved to a new city. But if you approach them like, do you mind being my patient? It's going to be seven appointments. It's going to be long. You're going to hate it, but do you mind coming in so that I can learn and clean your teeth? They'll look at you like, whoa, whoa, seven appointments, two and a half hours long. You don't sound very excited. So why should I be? So it's all in the way you talk to people. Even if somebody approaches you and says, hey, I've heard you give a discount on cleaning. How do I become a patient? If you say to them, well, it does take seven appointments. Is that okay with you? Don't do that because then they'll say, oh, okay. So clearly you're trying to talk me out of it. So maybe I won't be your patient. Again, it's all about how you approach it. So instead of saying, oh, I take seven appointments. Is that okay? Say something like, excellent, I would love to have you. Now, how often do you normally have your teeth cleaned? And how long has it been since you've had your teeth cleaned? You know, ask them things like that and then say, well, since it's been 10 years since you've had your teeth cleaned, it will take a few appointments at about two and a half hours each. So if you can commit to that, then I can give you an amazing discount. You know, they will ask more questions. It does depend on the patient, but it does help to be honest. And it does help to be as, as, you know, you know, as honest. And if they do ask you questions about how long it's going to take, be honest with them, because I do remember when I was in school, I might not have mentioned that it takes seven appointments to everybody. I might have said, yes, it takes a few appointments, but then I would have some people come in and think for some reason that they would have their full cleaning done in one appointment. So then here they'd be in my chair saying, oh, so I'm not getting the full cleaning today. And I'd say no, I told you it's going to be a few appointments. You know, I'd say it in a nice way, but this is what I'm thinking in my head is no, I told you it's going to be a few appointments. And they pretty much said, oh, well, if I'm not getting the cleaning today, then sorry, I can't be here. Like I just assumed it was the whole thing today. So make sure to tell them, though, that they don't have their cleaning done right away. It does help to mention to them that this is a school setting. So this is how you learn you will be getting the best treatment possible because the teachers are there literally every step of the way. The reason why it takes so many appointments is because the teachers have to mark each step because you might have people say you, well, why does it take seven appointments? Is it because you don't know what you're doing? Is it because you're bad? Even if you don't know what you're doing, don't tell them that, you know, don't act like you have no idea what you're doing. You know, it's the worst thing ever to be cleaning somebody's mouth and then say, you're my second patient. I'm so nervous. Don't do that. OK, don't do that. Just act like you know what you're doing. OK, so let them know that, you know, we go through everything like you will learn so much about your mouth that you probably never been taught before. You know, we do the assessment first. So I will look at, you know, inside the mouth, look at every little thing you have and let you know if it's normal, if it's something that we need to be concerned about, I'll let you know if you have teeth missing, you know, like we look at everything and then I will get the instructor to come by, she marks it and then we can move on. You know, that's why it takes multiple appointments because we just have to wait sometimes for them to do a check. So don't tell them that it takes upwards of seven appointments because you don't know what you're doing and they're your first patient, you know, so be positive about it. That's a huge, huge thing. And another thing is, is don't be afraid to advertise. Utilize social media. It's amazing these days. Post in like the dental hygiene network groups. There is an Ontario Dental Hygiene Network. If you're in Ontario, you know, post in groups, too, for your city, you know, if you live in Kitchener, you know, I live in Kitchener. So if I was a student, I would post in the Kitchener Mums Facebook page because there's always people on there looking to help out because they understand or they want to save money. They want to have their teeth cleaned. They want to help out. Don't be afraid to post in like a Kitchener buy and sell, you know, page. So post in groups where your school is and, you know, cities around there, too, because people don't mind driving half an hour even if they get a great discount, but also post in a positive way. Post, you know, hey, I'm a student. I would I would love to have people come in for me to clean their teeth. It is amazing. It takes a few appointments if it's been a long time since you haven't had your teeth cleaned, you know, spin it like that. If you need help with how to word your advertisements, let me know. But just remember to be positive, you know, try not to give too much info, but try not to give too little either. Like if you simply say, hi, hi, guys, I'm a student who wants to come in for a discounted cleaning. People won't know what that means. So be a little more specific. But if you're too long and say, hey, guys, who wants to come in for a discount to have their teeth cleaned? We offer this for this much, this for this much, this for that much. We offer this, this, this, this. We take x-rays. We do a period assessment. We do this, this and this. That might be too much and they might go, whoa, I don't need all that. So I guess I can't be this person's patient. But if you say, hi, guys, I'm a dental hygiene student in one of my final semesters, you know, so make it sound like you know what you're doing. I would, I'm looking for patients who would like to come in to get their teeth cleaned for only, you know, however much it costs for your school. I think for mine, it was $45. For only $45, you will have your whole mouth cleaned. We do offer whitening on site if you want that too, at a discount. We go through everything. We check for cavities, you know, things like that. But don't say too much, but don't say too little, okay? So if you guys need additional help though, let me know. And then I can tell you guys kind of exactly what to say to see if that helps you out, but this should help. So just, so just spend everything in a positive way. So patients are excited to come see you. And, but I do have a video about how to prepare for clinic. So watch that too, because I was just about to mention how to prepare for clinic and how to ask patients questions before they come in. So you're able to get most of the assessment page done on a separate piece of paper, but then when they come into clinic, you can write it down. So it actually saves you time, but I did have that in another video. So do a search for that. And good luck. I know it's stressful to find patients for clinic, but it is possible. So good luck and I will talk to you guys very, very soon.