Author Archives: Team Dinks

Most of us have to exercise varying degrees of fiscal caution and save money where possible, but there are certain items of expenditure where it could definitely be a false economy to try and pay as little as possible. Waiting to get dental services could put you in a situation later that costs a lot more than a simple cleaning or filled cavity. For example you may require all on 4 dental implants, which needs to be completed be a licensed professional. If you need your teeth straightening for example, should you use a dentist or an orthodontist to get the work done?

Your teeth are a hugely valuable commodity and there are a number of good reasons why skimping on the cost when you need dental work, could possibly turn out be a decision that you regret in the long run, despite the short-term perceived savings you might have made by using a dentist rather than an orthodontist.

Spot the difference

There are a number of differences between a dentist and an orthodontist that are worth finding out about, so that you can make an informed decision and choose what is best for you and your teeth rather than just your wallet or purse.

One fundamental difference is that specialist orthodontists go through an extra 2-3 years of full time education after they have completed dental school, spending their time at an accredited orthodontic residency program in order to gain the level of skill and competency required.

This additional training is focused on learning about jaw growth and development and also looks at diagnosing and preventative measures. An orthodontist will also be qualified to treat a wide range of dental problems such as malocclusions and jaw growth discrepancies.

Greater experience

An orthodontist will regularly deal with patients who require their facial profile correcting or teeth straightening and simply want to have an attractive smile to improve their looks and confidence.

An orthodontist specifically handles this type of work on a daily basis and therefore gains a considerable level of experience in these areas of dental skills, whereas a dentist may only have to deal with a small number of these problems each year, amongst all the other dental work that they do.

Value for money

It is often a pleasant surprise for patients to discover that orthodontists can very often be as affordable to use as a regular dentist, despite the fact that they offer a more advanced level of care in these specific areas of dental work.

One of the reasons why you could achieve value for money by using a specialized orthodontist like Joseph T. Hung, DMD, MMSc for something like teeth straightening, as opposed to using a regular dentist, is that they have the equipment and experience required to get the job done as efficiently as possible.

A dentist who only performs orthodontic work on an occasional basis, could end up charging the same money or more, simply because they need to allocate more of their time to the treatment and may need to get in specialist equipment that a specialist orthodontic practice already has.

Getting quality and value for money at the same time is a great combination whatever the service or product is you are talking about and a recent survey showed that orthodontic treatments carried out by dentists only scored a 50% satisfaction rate, compared 96.7% for trained orthodontists.

The case of Invisalign

There has been a huge growth in popularity for Invisalign treatments to correct misaligned teeth without the need to use unattractive braces.

Invisalign is frequently suggested as a substitute to metal braces and the orthodontist needs to have the required level of experience and expertise to perform the necessary dental adjustments as the treatment progress, as well as understanding how to interpret the 3D imaging software that maps the patient’s journey towards straightened teeth.

Due to the level of specialism required, Invisalign only initially permitted trained orthodontists to use their technology. General dentists have now been permitted to use this system as well and can become accredited after completing a simple curriculum that covers basics such as how to use the 3D imaging software and maintaining patient’s dental records.

To get the maximum benefit from Invisalign it requires the dental practitioner to have a level of skill and experience that enables them to straighten the front teeth as well as correcting their overall bite as well as managing their jaw and muscle function too.

These are specific skills that a dentist would struggle to compete against an orthodontist with, as they very often do not handle the same volume of teeth straightening cases to make full use of Invisalign techniques available.

This could potentially end up being detrimental to the quality of the overall result at the end of the treatment process, so skimping on orthodontics is clearly not one of the areas that you want to be skimping on.

Joseph T. Hung, DMD, MMSc, is an experienced orthodontist of many years. He likes to help people get the best dental care by posting online. Look for his illuminating articles mainly on health and dental blog sites. Keep up to Speed on Dental issues on Twitter.

Bachelorhood is surely one fantastic time when every man tries to live life carefree, fun and on a happy high. From crazy road trips to late night football matches; cheesy bars to bowling games you could never win, most men realise the perks of being single.

But sooner or later, you see your best friend finally deciding to get married or you may even find yourself popping the question to your girlfriend. The first thing that would then cross your mind is the ultimate Bachelor’s Party!
Bachelor parties are more than just a celebration of your upcoming marriage but in a way symbolise the end of an epic era. It is a tribute to perhaps the craziest days of your life and therefore needs to be planned carefully.

You may start with the Guest list. Just keep in mind that calling up all the bridegroom’s best friends is as important as making sure that people who don’t get along well are not thrown into the same space. Keep the crowd crisp and classy who will live up to your party theme. Some parties may be executed in a gentlemanly fashion whereas some are just downright raunchy! So make sure your invitees would appreciate that.

Picking a good location is extremely important. Parties may be pool side or inside clubs but need to be booked keeping in mind the size of crowd and likings of the bridegroom. There is also an old fashioned take on it wherein you can plan an outing into the woods or mountains for a weekend or so. If you desire high adrenaline parties, which are a big hit these days, they are mostly planned over adventure trips with activities like river rafting, sky diving etc.

Another aspect of the planning is of course the timing. When is it too early and when does it qualify as late? A day or two before the wedding is definitely not a good idea for you don’t want the bridegroom to be tired in his own marriage. So probably somewhere around a week or two before the wedding when your important invitees like the groom’s father and best man can definitely turn up, should be a good time.

Choosing an interesting theme to the party is like the perfect icing on the cake. It could be horror or quirky or classic, make a wise pick.

Another rising trend in such parties is gifts. Now perhaps a decade ago this was considered a feminine act, but let’s face it, men love receiving freebies as much as women. You can do anything like fixing him the perfect attire or get a complete set of grooming products, everything that he might need to maintain his charm after marriage.
This isn’t a truly bothersome aspect that one needs to get worked out about. Easy and affordable sites like Nordstorm.com are one stop solutions to pick the best presents. With a wide array of personal care products and a fashionable range of clothes, just go berserk shopping with coupons at ChameleonJohn.com.

So finally you have the perfect Bachelor Party brewing and your friend will thank you for this for a long long time.

A lot of Dinks think about starting their own businesses to make extra money. If you’re one of them, get inspired by these seven businesses that turned from garage ventures to multi-million dollar empires. And there are plenty of ways to learn how to form a corporation online to build your own empire.

1. Apple
Apple is the ultimate example of an amazing company that a college dropout started in his parents’ garage. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and a group of their friends started their venture by building circuit boards for a local electronics store.

They then created the Apple II, a complete computer that operated using a circuit board designed by the Woz. The computer attracted the attention of venture capitalist Mike Markulla, who helped the Apple gang get financial backing and a credit line. Although Steve Jobs struggled at Apple and was eventually fired, he regained control, invented a host of new products, and created a prosperous business bottom line. Today, Apple has a market value of over $500 billion.

2. Amazon.com
Amazon.com started as an online bookstore in 1994 that Jeff Bezos ran out of his garage in Washington state. Bezos started his business when the Web was born, and he shaped the world’s vision of what e-commerce could be.
Today, Amazon.com is much more than an online bookstore. The company, both from its distribution centers and through third-party sellers, provides just about every product imaginable. Bezos himself is worth just under $30 billion, and Amazon.com has a market cap of $146.42 billion.

3. Mattel
When Mattel launched in a Southern California garage in 1945, the company didn’t make toys. It made wooden picture frames. Soon, Ruth and Elliot Handler and Matt Matson, Mattel’s founders, decided to make wooden dollhouse furniture out of the scrap wood left over from their picture frames. Soon, the dollhouse furniture was making more money than their picture frames, and a toy empire was born. Matson eventually sold out to the Handlers, who incorporated Mattel in 1948. Today, Mattel has a market cap of $10.63 billion.

4. Dogfish Head Brewery
Sam Calagione had prepped his first brew, a pale ale, when he bought some cherries in a Manhattan bodega and decided to toss them into the mix. The beer inspired him to seek out unusual ingredients and to create great beer out of them, which became the cornerstone of Dogfish’s brewing philosophy.

After raising money from his dad, his orthodontist, someone who’d hired him for construction work, and the bank, Calagione opened his first Dogfish Head Pub in Delaware. Today, Dogfish Head distributes its beers coast to coast, and it brings in over $40 million a year.

5. Harley Davidson
When he was 21 years old, William S. Harley had an idea for an engine that would propel a bicycle. He paired up with a childhood friend, Arthur Davidson, and built the motorbike in a 10-by-15 foot shed in Milwaukee. Four years later, after a Harley Davidson motorbike won a road race, the friends were able to hire their first full-time employee. The company expanded, survived the Great Depression, and today is one of the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturers.

6. Maglite
Tony Maglica, creator of the Maglite flashlight, took over 20 years to turn his garage business into an empire. He left his home in Croatia in 1950 and immigrated to Los Angeles, working odd jobs until he saved enough to buy a lathe. He started crafting precision parts in his garage in 1955, but he didn’t craft his first flashlight until 1979. Now, every police officer in America carries a Maglite flashlight as standard issue.

7. Yankee Candle Company
Back in 1969, a 16-year-old kid named Michael Kittredge crafted a scented candle out of melted crayons as a Christmas gift for his mother. His mother never actually got the candle, however, because Kittredge sold it to his neighbor for $2. He hired a friend to help him make more candles at a rate of $1 per hour. He eventually opened a 2,000 square foot store in South Deerfield, Mass., to sell his candles and became a multi-millionaire.

Are You Inspired?
If you’re a Dink who thinks you and your partner would make a great business team, imagine the places you could go if you started your own business. With a lot of persistence and some luck, you could find yourselves heading up a multi-million dollar company.

More reads from Dinks Finance:

• Credit Check Total Review
• How To Pay For Plastic Surgery With Bad Credit?
• Buy An Oil Well?
• 4 Key Components Of Financial Planning
• The 10 Most Expensive Court Cases In History

Cars are expensive but, unfortunately, they are one of those things you need to have. Unless you live in a city with stellar public transportation, owning a car means that you’ll be able to take of all the necessary things in life, such as jobs, kids, shopping, and the like.

However, just because you do own a car doesn’t mean that it needs to rule your bank account. There are plenty of ways that you can trim the costs associated with car ownership, you just need to know where to look.
If you own a car, or two, take a look at these easy ways to make sure that you have some money left over to get some fun out of life, or maybe to take a road trip in that car that you’re paying for.

Car Purchases
Saving money from the start is a great way to begin. When it comes time for you to consider a car purchase, determine your budget then decide if you want a new or used car. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Purchasing a new car spares you the headaches of breakdowns and repairs, but you’ll also find yourself saddled with a monthly loan payment and the high cost of insuring a new car. However, you’ll also have the luxury of scheduled maintenance and that new car smell.

Used cars make good sense financially, but you’ll need to be sure that the car is in good working condition. Take a mechanic with you on all test drives and ask him or her to look under the hood. Preventing problems is always easier than fixing them.

Fuel
Gasoline is expensive, and it can be an even bigger hit to your wallet if you own an older car or a gas-guzzling truck. Car manufacturers are getting better at producing more fuel-efficient models, but not everyone can afford to buy a new car just to save money on gas.

Luckily, there are some ways to trim your fuel bill. For instance, many grocery store chains offer discounts on gas if you spend a certain dollar amount in the store or are a member of their rewards program. Costco often has great prices on gas and, even if you don’t shop there, the cost of the membership can pay for itself in fuel savings.
Additionally, use apps like Gas Guru to scout out the lowest gas prices in your area without driving around and wasting gas to find them.

Insurance
Insurance is required by law so it’s one of those expenses that you have to pay, but you should be smart about it, as well. Make sure that you shop around and compare prices before you hand over your credit card number or write a check.

Talk with your insurance agent about bundling products. If you carry your home insurance policy with a certain company they may be able to offer you a discount on your car policy. Also, if you drive an older car consider the coverage carefully. You may be able to drop certain elements of coverage and save a few hundred dollars a year.

Repairs and Maintenance
One of the largest expenses related to your car is likely to be repairs and maintenance. These bills can run in to the thousands of dollars if you’re not careful, so it’s wise to be prepared.

If you don’t already have a good working relationship with a mechanic it’s time to look for one. Get references from friends and ask questions when you meet with them. Determine how much they charge for labor and ask about the cost of parts. Finding used car parts for your make and model can save you a great deal of money in the long run.

Ridesharing
One great way to defray some of the costs of car ownership is to let someone else do the driving from time to time. Ridesharing and carpooling are both great ways to lessen your fuel costs and reduce the mileage added to your car. Plus, you’ll be doing your part to keep car emissions low and save the planet.

Also, you can put your car to work for you by registering with a service such as Lyft. You’ll essentially use your car as a taxi and provide rides to people in your area for a fee. These services are really taking off and many drivers report earning that cover all of the costs associated with their cars.

Yes, cars are expensive, but there are ways to dramatically reduce your costs. Use some of these tips now and your wallet will thank you later.