Zirc helps you think outside the tub to save money and stress

The other day, a dental assistant named Mandy sat down with a patient in operatory No. 2 for a simple crown prep procedure. Going through the procedure effortlessly, as she had many times before, Mandy and Dr. Pearson were wrapping up with only the placement of the temporary crown left to execute.

Mandy reached over to her operatory drawer to grab the temporary bond that is in the same place in all of the operatories. To her surprise, she realized there was no bonding agent stocked in its usual place.

No big deal. She swiftly shuffled over to operatory No. 1 to that same drawer. Once again, she was surprised to see no bonding agent available and, in its place, were a couple of impression trays and a few cotton rolls.

Mandy was now getting a little frustrated, knowing that the new assistant they recently hired was just in that operatory doing a crown prep a couple hours ago. The assistant must have used the last of the bonding agent and did not restock the operatory. She also made a mess of the other procedural materials inside the drawer.

By this time, Mandy was upset because her patient had been waiting for about five minutes as she gracefully danced around other staff and patients to find a small bottle of bonding agent to complete her hour-long procedure.

Mandy’s last resort was to go through sterilization to the back closet in hopes of finding this bonding agent in stock, and luckily, 10 were left. Five had expired, but the other five were good for the next couple of weeks.

A total of seven minutes had gone by, and instead of being done with the procedure, Mandy and Dr. Pearson were placing the temporary crown five minutes later than the estimated procedure time and still had another crown prep patient sitting out in the waiting room.

Would Mandy remember to restock that bonding agent in the operatories?

The portable drawer

A tub is a dental practice’s best friend. It keeps operatory drawers clutter-free for commonly used items, stores only procedure-specific materials and can be placed in sterilization, ready for the next procedure, with no same-day prep needed.

This eliminates the situation of depleted materials that are forgotten about prior to a procedure — a situation that caused Mandy so many issues.

The money maker

With a cover, the tub can sit chairside, protecting and supplying everything an operatory drawer can.

The most important difference between the drawer and the dental tub is restocking. You are only restocking one tub for your procedures, compared to keeping inventory in one, two or five operatory drawers.

This will put a tight squeeze on your inventory, allowing a dental practice to save money usually wasted on throwing away expired procedural materials and by keeping better counts on the others.

Getting rid of stress

More than just throwing away money, Mandy’s situation with her new
assistant also caused her undue stress. The truth is, we are faced with stress everyday in our lives. It’s a matter of how you can avoid it, handle it or move on from it that determines whether you can stay clear of the negative side-effects that can prevail.

According to the American Psychological Association at the American Institute of Stress in New York, our jobs are the No. 1 thing that stresses us out, and 48 percent surveyed say it has an effect on their personal and professional life.

No surprise really; we spend a good portion of our week at work and then play catch-up in our spare time to satisfy our personal needs, leaving very little room for ourselves to unwind and bring our mind or body back to center.

Is Zirc the answer?

Can Zirc solve all of your stress-related concerns? Of course not, but when its research and design team gets together to bring effective dental products and techniques to the industry, there are three values considered: innovation, quality and efficiency.

Not only will these values help a dental practice profit more as a business, it will also enhance the unity and flow of what goes on in front of a patient and behind the sterilization walls.

Decreasing your material inventories and increasing your procedure efficiencies will help you gain more time in your work day, adding more value to your practice and co-workers, all the while putting a smile on your face.

The small step

Don’t try to fix all of your stressors at once. Change one thing you do during a procedure or sterilization process that you think may help relieve stress or make you feel more positive while doing your job.

Try it for a short period of time, and if it does not work, you can always revert back.