 Hi everybody, Andrew Maeski here with Dental Al. So I went to the dollar store today and I picked up a bunch of stuff that I will be using for my practice and I Actually watched those YouTube videos where people who go to the dollar store like what they buy if they go You know like their cleaning supplies their subscription boxes I don't know. I just like seeing things like that. So then I thought well Why don't I do a dollar store U-Haul because not a lot of people realize that you can get some pretty Incredible things at the dollar store that you can use in your own practice to make your life so much easier So let me just kind of share with you what that is So I just kind of threw everything in this box I do actually have another storage container that I'll show you guys first But so mainly from the dollar store what I get are storage containers because being a mobile dental hygienist I can never seem to have enough storage containers. So as an example, I bought this one with a lid So it was four dollars you guys four dollars if you go to a dental Company, they do sell storage containers too, but I can guarantee you something like this would be like 80 bucks and Yes, it's probably better made than the dollar store, but I don't need an 80 dollar Storage container with a lid. This was four dollars from the dollar store And it has a lid with the handle. Okay, so you might be wondering what am I going to use this for? So when I see children so once again you guys as you probably know at this point But I feel like I have to keep on mentioning it just in case somebody doesn't realize what I do So I am a mobile dental hygienist So I don't have a physical location yet. So I go to patients houses So I try to carry the least amount of things possible depending on what I'm doing So this I'm thinking so I'm still not completely sure yet, but I'm thinking I might put my piezo in here along with like my piezo tips My piezo handpieces Probably my chlorhexidine like bottles, you know things that I would be using for those deeper cleaning appointments Just to kind of keep things organized because I feel like I still have to work on that where I'll be going to a Patient's house and I'm bringing in almost everything just in case I need it and that piezo is one of them Where if I can just leave that inside the car perhaps or just take this You know hold this it would just be so much easier now Another thing that I thought to use this for would be when I see kids So I see a lot of kids for appointments where I'm doing a cleaning a checkup Applying silver Diamine fluoride and then I can also place temporary Fuji as well if I'm going to cover up those black spots from the silver Diamine fluoride because I have been a restorative hygienist for the past five years now So I am able to do that So in case you're watching this and thinking wait a minute you're placing fillings and no no no I Can do that as a restorative hygienist But what I can do to mix up those Fuji capsules is I need the amalgamator or the Triturator if I'm saying that properly I can put that in here along with The Fuji capsules I can put in like kids toys kids stickers kids Toothbrushes so specific to kids. Okay, so I I could use this for so many things I probably should have bought another one the best thing about it is it has a lid with a handle Okay, so sorry enough talking about that whoops as I just throw it down. I Bought file folder. So I need portable File folders for many things. So I just bought two and these were I think this was two dollars And this one was 250. So this has 12 Different folders. This has only seven. So I thought for this one I could use this for the insurance checks that come in and to also remind myself in August to you know catch up with this patient this patient and this patient where the insurance money should be coming in Because now I do do direct billing but that also means it literally takes sometimes two months to get paid But I usually follow up with my patients about two weeks afterwards because what I've been finding is a lot of that insurance Money that should be coming to me because yes, the patient signs that one spot That says payment goes to your dental hygienist, but insurance still is not doing that They are paying the patient. So I just asked them in about two weeks You know, oh, did you get an insurance? You know check yet or did it go into your bank account? Please have a look for me and then they always say yes like 80% of the time 85% and then they just send it to me So this one is with the 12 folders. So I'm going to do it per month and any insurance check that I I Receive I'm going to put in there plus the different claim forms that I might be getting from insurance companies like per month And then I will also be like leaving a little sticky note to say make sure to follow up with this patient This patient this patient speak because you should be getting paid this month now What I do is if a patient wants me to Direct bill I do ask for a credit card to put on file and if I'm not paid from the insurance company within 40 days I take out that full amount from their credit card I do ask them first, but that usually means that the insurance has paid the patient and they just have it noticed So just a little tip for you guys This file folder that I have with seven. I'm thinking to put things in there like Because it came with alphabetical Stickers, where did those go? I swear I just had them so I probably just put them down somewhere Sorry guys. Anyways, it came with like alphabetical like stickers. So I'm thinking about putting Patience charts in here because I do still have paper Medical and dental history plus if they give me anything like if they give me their A copy of their insurance card or a copy of claim forms I will put them in here, but I might need a bigger one. So I haven't really decided completely yet Okay, so another thing that I bought which I just realized it starts August So next month, but what I'm going to do is I'm going to keep track of all of my patients in here because you are supposed to have a Overall master copy I do use Google calendars on my cell phone for my patients, but you do still need a master copy So this way I can also put everything in here So in the event I get audited knock on wood But I will have everything here to show them what they need. So that's what I'm using this for It's nice and tiny so that I can bring it with me Plus I feel it just looks more professional than if a patient wants to book their next Appointment I take out my cell phone and say, okay, well, let me see There's nothing wrong with that but I just I don't want them to thinking that I'm just looking at something else I can take out my my appointment book agenda instead and Just kind of look through it that way. So just kind of something that I decided to do and it's nice and tiny so And I like having paper too another thing that I have noticed that I need is a notebook. So just to quickly Mark things down like I had a patient the other day telling me like oh What was I doing I was looking at his daughter's teeth and he wanted me to tell him How many different cavities she had and then I would submit a Predetermination to the insurance company, but then I thought okay, let me just grab a piece of paper quickly Well, I didn't have one as silly as that sounds I didn't have one because I'm so so digital with so many things But it would just help to have a quick notebook or if I'm doing that in my head to try to figure out how much a Patient owes instead of using like a bunch of little pieces of paper Which I would normally do and then just throw them out I can keep everything in here. So if I have to go back to it later, I might go. Oh, yeah I did check the difference. Let me just check these pages here. Okay here. So the difference is here I don't know just helps to have a notebook. It was like a dollar fifty you guys. That's it Okay, everybody needs these check these out you guys clearly don't put them in the sterilizer They are a little like a disinfecting only but all of these nice colors I like things to have color But if you try to get like these things from like a dental supply company You're going to be paying like twenty dollars for each one for five of them. I paid Shoot, I think I took off the label already. I think it was like two dollars So you might be wondering well, what are you going to put in there? So a perfect example is let's say I'm doing a whitening procedure on Five five different people. It's so hard to have Five different trays and then just kind of put everything there because I like to like tape things with me and move over To the patient because sometimes my to my table is like all the way over there And then I have to keep going back and forth and I don't want to bring the whole tray up to the patient well, if I can put like my My gauze the whitening syringe, you know, my micro brushes, whatever In here take it with me and then there you go I'm probably not explaining it very well, but this will help me so much even when I see kids like let's say I'm applying Silver-diamond fluoride and the tables all the way over there, but the kid just wants to sit on on the couch It happens. I can put in my bottle of silver-diamond Fluoride I can put in a micro brush. I can put in a hand mirror I can put in gauze, you know, whatever and then just walk over there It looks less intense than me bringing my whole tray to this little like six-year-old I don't know things you learn as a mobile hygienist. This will help me so much Even it's just things like putting your instruments your your package instruments in here Let's say you want to keep all of your micro brushes in here with your Articulating paper. I don't know this just so many different things to do so Put that over here now Another thing that I did get so I do see Patients in my home sometimes if they just don't want me coming to them. It's just easier for them to come to me I do have a little office set up upstairs for now, but it's just temporary because I am Redoing a new space which will look amazing, but I have cups So if you haven't heard me say this yet I don't like a lot of like plastic paper because you have to throw it out Why not again? Reusable cups again different colors. How cute is that and just leave them in your washroom? Obviously wash them after each use Obviously, you know, but why not right? I would even probably disinfect them first and then wash them afterwards just to make sure even if you don't know if The patient touched any any of them do them anyway. So this is a cup for like mouthwash water whatever right Easy or you can you can get like 80 plastic cups for like 20 bucks But then you have to keep throwing them out So I don't like throwing a lot of things out when I can not do that as much as possible including in dental. I do try Okay, what else did I get you guys? Okay? The dollar store has sense of dying as a mobile hygienist. I do like to have different types of Toothpaste on hand so that if I'm seeing a new patient and I tell them Or I should say that they tell me that they have extreme cold Sensitivity I always recommend sense and I but they might not remember the name Or they just might not have a chance to go to this to the store But if I say well, I actually have some and I just sell it to them at cost So they're not paying anything more just at cost of what I pay for it Here you go patients love that because they like just being like oh you have it with you Oh, you're only charging me this much. Okay. Well, that's the same prices as if I were to go to the store But when I go to the store, I'm probably not going to remember So I like to have these on hand. I buy them from the dollar store same thing so much cheaper Another thing that I have for cleaning my instruments in the lab For the like pre cleaning I use these so I have some of these brushes There's kind of like different types plus a toothbrush. Yes, just a normal toothbrush This looks pretty intense. It's not something that I would use in my mouth, but to clean instruments. Yes So there you go. Let's see. Oh and for the lab since I had wrecked my last one some utility gloves utility gloves, so I use these in my lab when I'm Processing instruments plus after I see a patient and I'm cleaning everything up I'm I'm disinfecting everything I put these on and and it's just so funny because I Had patients say to me like why are you putting on those gloves? I say well, these are like my Utility gloves we call them, you know We need something a little bit thicker because if the instrument pokes me It's a lot easier to poke me with those other gloves that I use inside your mouth But it's a lot harder with these thicker ones. They go. Oh, okay, and it's just nice to have a different color, right? These were 250 Okay, last but not least we'll actually two other things This so kind of the same thing. So what I like to use for this is let's say I'm seeing a Child so I know I'm not going to need like a lot. I'll put in like a pouch of instruments I'll put in like a toy or two for them to pick from a toothbrush toothpaste a sticker You know just anything that I need in here So I just have to walk out of the car and take this or take you know this So I do have so many different options Sometimes I feel like I need something a little bit taller Like let's say I'm putting in the amalgamator then I will use this Because otherwise it's not going to fit in here, right? But if I don't need the amalgamator then I will use this for like instruments just kind of take with me I could even I wonder if this fits in there Hey, that's not bad. So if I wanted to say put something in here, but then I needed a lid I can put one of these over top and put more You know things in here and then just take that pretty cool, right? So I love the dollar store There's always so much for me to find like I have bought pens from there I have bought like paper like notebooks and I kind of feel like I need more but every time I go I spend at least like $40 like just on odds and ends So you guys hope that helped let me know if you have any questions on my dollar store you call and I will see you guys in the next one