 Hello everybody, Andrew Maeski here with Dental L. So let's talk about how to make small talk with patients. And I'm doing this video because as silly and kind of mean as this sounds, we've been having some new dental assistants with us. And it's amazing how I guess people just don't know how to make small talk. Or maybe I make too much small talk, that's possible, but I have never had a patient, you know, not thank me for their experience. So they're always happy afterwards. They tell me, oh, you know, like, thank you for being so informative. I had no idea with all of that, you know. When I help patients, like they seem quite happy, you know. So a little bit of small talk with a little bit of education. So if you're a new dental hygienist, it's completely normal to just kind of twiddle your thumbs and just not know what to do, you know. Be like, hmm, what can I talk about? Because if you don't have experience, it's kind of hard to really, you know, pipe in and talk about that crown that the dentist is suggesting because you don't really know a lot about crowns yet or, you know, talk about other things. But if you're alone in the room with them, let's say you're waiting for a check by the dentist or you're just waiting or, I don't know, you're just doing something, right? Even as you're cleaning teeth, I'm always talking to patients. But you do get the inkling if they don't want to be talked to. There are some patients where just their personality is different and they don't want you talking, talking, talking, right? So let's say if I'm talking to a patient, I'll just sort of say, oh yeah, you know, it's nice outside today. It's October, yet it's kind of summer. So that's pretty nice, right? And if they answer me like, mm-hmm. Then that tells me right away, they're not interested in talking and that's okay. So yes, I'll still talk to them as I'm cleaning. I might say, oh, you know, on the upper left-hand side here, there's a lot of plaque, but the right-hand side, you have like nothing. So whatever you're doing on the right side, do that on the left side. You know, so I'll still talk to them, but I'm not going to make small talk. I'm not gonna talk about, I don't know, the weather. I'm not going to talk about random things. I might a little bit, but I'm not going to talk their ear off for the whole hour, right? But let's say you're waiting for a check and you're kind of thinking, oh, the dentist has kept me waiting like 20 minutes. I don't, you know, I've booked the next appointment for the patient. I've talked to them, what else do I do? There's nothing wrong with, again, making small talk, you guys, something as simple as giving them their toothbrush and toothpaste and then saying, oh, what toothpaste do you use again? And then I'm saying, oh, Crest or Colgate. And then you can say, oh yeah, I have been probably using Crest for like 10 years because you know it's funny. I tried Colgate before and I didn't like the taste. That will initiate conversation and then they might start talking about toothpaste and how they don't like the taste of this one or they don't like the taste of that one. You don't have to talk about the weather or talk about your amazing night out the night before, but just kind of talk about little things like that. Or if you're looking through the cupboards and you give them a soft pick as a sample and say, oh, you know, I love these because every time I get something stuck in my teeth which does happen, these you can just kind of go like this and then it takes it out, you know, small talk. So does that make sense you guys? But I'm saying this because a lot of people don't seem to know or want to make small talk but then everybody comes to me afterwards and says, you really talk to your patients. Do you know that person or do you know this person or that person or how do you do that? And I never thought that I was doing anything amazing. I was just talking to them. Even in school, instructors would always say to me, do you know this person? I'd say, oh, no, we just met like two minutes ago but I can make people feel comfortable and it makes me feel better to talk to them because that makes me feel more comfortable too. Trust me, you guys, I'm nervous meeting new people. I'm nervous talking to a patient because you never know how they're gonna react. You never know what they're gonna do, right? In my business, I'm a mobile dental hygienist. So I'm the one going to their house. I've never seen them before. I don't know who they are. I don't know if they're nice, mean, horrible but you just kind of have to get yourself out there and talk about random things. But again, you will get the impression if they're like, yep, yeah, it's nice outside, I guess. Or the funny thing is when you talk to them and you say something as simple as, oh, you know, how is your day so far? And they go, oh my God, horrible. Oh, okay, because I'm not expecting somebody to say horrible. So I might say to them, oh, Jesus, everything okay? And they might go, yeah, yeah, you know what, fine. That's a good indication that they don't want to talk. But I might say something like, oh yeah, you know, we all have good days, we have bad days. But look on the bright side, you do not have to do any work because I will make your teeth look so nice, you will love it. Done, right? End of conversation, you do not have to initiate more small talk. You can kind of tell that they don't want to. But always ask a patient at the beginning of their appointment if they have any tooth issues, if their teeth are sensitive. Always ask them at the end, do you have any questions? Is there anything that you weren't sure about? Then they might come out of their shell. I've had patients that don't say a word. Like even as I'm talking, they don't even acknowledge that I'm talking. Like they just don't hear me or something. But then I will ask them at the end, did you have any questions? And then they will say, actually yes, if you could help me with this, you know, and then they talk for 10 minutes of how they want to completely change their smile and that they had such a great appointment today. It just kind of takes me aback. Like, oh my God, you were listening to me? This is cool. So you never know, you guys. So always ask at the end if they have any questions. Even if you're waiting like 20 minutes for a check or whatever, ask them if they want a magazine. Ask them if they want some water. I tend to take the initiative and go to the front. If I'm working at the dental office and just sort of get them like a couple of different magazines because you don't know what they're going to like. And just say here, she says that there'll be hopefully another five more minutes, sorry, keep you waiting, but here's some magazines, you know, take the initiative, they will appreciate that, okay? But let me know if you have any questions about how to make small talk. If I forgot something, feel free to comment and make sure to click like so I know people are watching. And the cool thing is, you guys, is we are almost at 10,000 subscribers, which is cool. I don't get anything for that, but I just think it's so cool that 10,000 or almost 10,000 people have clicked like, like, like, like, and that they are watching me. So thank you guys, but please make sure to comment. So that way I know what you like, what you don't like, what you want to hear more, because I live and breathe dental if you can't tell, so I'm so happy to help. Thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one.