One of the critical considerations when opening a new dental office or upgrading an existing one is what office equipment you should have. The next is an elevator repair service to ensure patients access your office. If you’ll be purchasing a dental office, it’ll most likely come stocked with the appropriate dental equipment.
In some cases, you may want to upgrade dental equipment to modernize your office, prioritize the comfort of your patients, and improve the overall ambiance of your office. The result is a refreshed, modern office that increases the value of your dental practice. This is essential, especially if you plan to sell your practice, as it instantly raises its market appeal. For instance, upgrading the dental clinic treatment area will likely attract more attention from potential buyers, and even if you aren’t planning to sell, your patients will appreciate the upgraded space. Below are ten must-haves for your dental office.
1. Sterilization Equipment
Besides having pharmaceutical labels on products, a clean, sterile environment is one of the most important factors in a health center. In dental practice, especially in the dental clinic treatment area, the need to sterilize equipment cannot be overstated. You’ll need to sterilize equipment to check infection spread in your dental office. The sterilization equipment must meet the relevant regulatory standards.
Dental tools and equipment must be regularly and thoroughly sterilized and dried using steam or heat. This is done in a matter of minutes. Sterilization is essential because it minimizes or eliminates cross-contamination to keep patients safe and healthy. Sterilizing equipment also minimizes injury risk common during manual washing of sharp dental tools.
2. Dental Chairs for Patients
A patient’s chair is one of the most important equipments in your dental practice. People have heard all manner of horror stories about a visit to the dentist. Mythical stories abound of patients lying on commercial concrete slabs as their teeth were gorged out.
These horror stories have nothing to do with the truth: dental offices are comfortable, highly welcoming spaces featuring comfortable dental chairs for patients. The best dental chair for your patients depends on the needs of the dentist, dental assistant, dental hygienist, and, most importantly, the patients. It should have advanced ergonomic features for maximum comfort.
They feature movable armrests and comfortable padding, allowing patients to climb on and off them effortlessly. An ideal dental chair for the dentist is programmable to allow the dentist easy movement in whichever direction they desire. It should also have a slender backrest for ample legroom. While seated, a dentist should be able to use a touchpad or footswitch. You know it’s time to upgrade the dental chairs in your dental clinic treatment area if they are stained, difficult to maneuver, or worn out.
3. Handpieces
Dental handpieces are crucial in the dental clinic treatment area. Whether these are used equipment or new ones, the most important consideration is their function. Dentists use them to conduct various dental procedures, from routine appointments to clean teeth to more complicated surgical procedures. The goal is to have handpieces for specific and general procedures.
Essential handpiece systems your dental office must have include air-driven, low-speed, and air-driven, high-speed handpieces, a dental laboratory, hygiene, and electric dental. Before you purchase a dental handpiece, consider its function and how it rests in your hand. Other considerations include it’s head size and weight. It’s also crucial how it balances in the hands of a lab technician, specialist, hygienist, and dentist.
4. Operatory Cabinetry
To keep your dental clinic treatment area organized, you’ll need practical storage solutions. The good thing about an organized space is that workers can access materials easily and move around without running into equipment. Functional cabinets for your dental practice are durable and aesthetically pleasant.
Install commercial metal doors to keep your office safe, isolating areas that only your staff can access from the patient areas. Among cabinetry options are center island, rear, side, and mobile cabinetry. Besides durability, your cabinetry must be designed to make your practice look organized and functional.
Only buy from reputable manufacturers with a record of making cabinetry for dental offices. The correct layout for your dental practice allows a seamless operation flow, enhancing staff productivity. Sufficient, strategically placed storage and cabinetry make your office environment look modern and sleek, which is excellent for productivity. Consider using computer cabinetry that conceals accessories and cables, and use the rear and side cabinetry to store supplies and dental tools.
5. Delivery Systems
A dental delivery system is crucial to a dental clinic treatment area. This is where you keep all must-have electric-powered dental equipment, such as water and air syringes, vacuums, and handpieces. A majority of delivery systems have at least three handpieces with automatic activation.
Other features include a control panel, airflow control, and a waterline featuring an asepsis tubing purge system. These delivery systems can serve as a portable delivery unit mounted on a dental chair. You can position a chair-mounted delivery system on the side, over or behind a patient, whichever position you prefer.
There are different types of dental delivery systems. These over-the-patient systems are ergonomically sound since right-handed and left-handed dentists can easily use them. Besides their flexibility, you can maximize the dental clinic treatment area to minimize vision shift for easy reach of instruments. If you practice in pediatric dentistry, you are better off using a rear-type unit, which keeps your tools closer than the over-the-patient systems.
For children, using a rear dental delivery unit will keep your tools from their sight and reach. Some kids find sitting on a dentist’s chair frightening. Add to this the sight of sharp dental instruments; you could have a scared kid looking back at you. Consider a rear-type delivery system if you have an assistant. Besides being the most affordable of the three, this system is operated by two people.
The most popular dental delivery system is a side-type unit, as it gives your patients a more comfortable experience than the other two. Besides giving you easy access to the chair, it makes you feel less confined as you work. Buy your ideal dental delivery unit from an advanced manufacturing company with a proven record of making high-quality dental equipment.
6. Dental Operating Lights
Poor lighting in a dental clinic treatment area can be detrimental. Also known as dental operatory lights, dental operating lights are a standard fixture in a dental office. Without them, the dentist would be groping in the dark, literally.
Lighting the oral cavity can affect how a dental operation goes. Operatory lights are fixed permanently to a delivery system, wall, cabinet, or ceiling. Some lights are attached to swing arms that come in several options. They are powered by LED technology or halogen and can be adjusted to fit the needs of an assistant, a hygienist, and a dentist.
The ideal operatory light should work with your cabinetry and the dental delivery system. It should also be compatible with your preferred position while performing dental procedures. Since lights come in different lux (light intensity ratings) and color temperatures, ensure the ones in your treatment area are compatible with those in the rest of the operatory.
The dental operating lights should illuminate the dental and task areas. The lights include task and ambient lighting. Ambient lighting should be bright enough to illuminate the entire treatment area so you don’t miss essential items such as a first responder bag.
When choosing the proper dental lighting, balance between high-intensity illumination to allow precision in the operatory. The lighting should allow color matching for cosmetic work and restorations. It should also reduce eye strain, and since light has been proven to increase energy levels, it’s crucial to strike the light balance when choosing dental operatory lights.
7. X-Ray Imaging Instruments
X-ray imaging equipment is crucial when diagnosing, documenting, and treating a dental condition. A dental X-ray will capture even the tiniest signs of oral health trouble, such as cavities, gum disease, and infections, allowing a dentist enough time to address the issues early. The result is minimal damage to one’s dental as it’s possible to give your patients the best possible treatment. The X-rays employ electromagnetic radiation to take images of a patient’s mouth. The radiation beam passes through your mouth’s soft tissues, capturing images of your bones and teeth.
To reduce radiation and improve efficiency, consider replacing your old film X-ray imaging equipment with a modern one. These X-ray equipment produce high-resolution images that medical professionals can instantly assess and share over a tablet or computer. Among modern X-ray equipment you should consider bringing to your dental clinic treatment area are digital panoramic X-ray systems, phosphor plate X-ray systems, and intraoral X-ray sensors.
8. Laser Technology
Did you know that laser dentistry can eliminate the need for gum surgery? It can, but only if you attend to the problem early. An X-ray of your gums will reveal if there’s damage that requires treatment using the less invasive laser technology. As you lie on the dentist’s chair at the dental clinic treatment area, your dentist will use lasers to sterilize those deep pockets painlessly, eliminating the bacteria responsible for gum disease. If you have gum disease-related inflammation, the laser procedure can also minimize it.
A question has been asked whether traditional dental treatments are worse off than laser dental procedures. To answer this question, let’s first address what laser dentistry is. It has nothing to do with commercial glass experts. On the contrary, it’s a treatment method that uses lasers to rectify or treat various dental conditions. It’s a more comfortable treatment procedure as it’s minimally invasive.
Compared to non-laser tools and drills (and no, we aren’t talking about wells dug by a water drilling company), it’s way ahead in terms of treatment efficacy. It uses a focused beam, very narrow, light energy that reacts upon hitting a tissue in your mouth, allowing it to shape or remove it. Besides gum disease, laser whitens teeth and treats tooth decay and hypersensitivity.
Dental treatments that use lasers are comfortable, cost-effective, and highly efficient. Laser procedures involve two main types of treatments: soft and hard tissue. While soft tissue refers to the gums, hard tissue relates to one’s teeth.
9. Digital Impressions
Imagine sitting in a dental clinic treatment area as a dentist slides the impression material down your throat. It sounds gross, doesn’t it? This is how dentists made dental impressions back in the day before digital dentistry appeared. If your current dental clinic doesn’t use advanced digital tools to enhance efficiency and comfort, it’s time to switch, and here’s why.
With digital optical impressions, a dentist can significantly enhance their operations’ accuracy, productivity, and efficiency. They can even email your virtual impression to a laboratory instead of sending a stone model or the traditional impression via snail mail. Also, digital impressions lend themselves to same-day restorations, minimizing the need for multiple dental office visits and speeding up treatment.
Digital impressions also reduce chair time, improve the quality of impressions or images, and keep uncomfortable impression materials from your mouth, sometimes making patients gag. Since they are less invasive, dental impressions are more comfortable, making the entire experience at the dentist pleasant for the patient and the dentist.
There are also fewer chances of errors and inaccuracies in the impressions, drastically minimizing restoration mistakes. Besides, using digital impressions will attract more patients to your practice. This is because most patients are quick to embrace state-of-the-art dental technology as they can see their dental impressions on the screen by the chairside.
10. Utility Equipment
One of the elements you’ll find in a dental clinic treatment area is water. For this, you’ll need a reliable commercial water treatment service. The last thing you want is to introduce new bacteria into a patient’s mouth through contaminated water.
You’ll need a dental utility to power equipment in your dental office. The equipment supplies water and pressurized air to clean and dry treatment areas. You’ll also need suction to operate equipment and handpieces, which is essential in a dental practice.
You’ll need amalgam separators, dental compressors, separation tanks, and vacuums. Operating on a patient will be difficult if any dental operatory equipment is faulty. So, ensure every piece of equipment is in pristine operating condition before you take in the first patient.
Technology is evolving unprecedentedly, especially in dentistry. Having the relevant tools for your dental office is the least you can do. It’s the only way to stay in business. Invest in less-invasive technology that makes a dentist’s visit less dreadful, even one to look forward to. In most cases, treatment is limited by the nature of the tools and equipment you have at your disposal. Invest in modern technology and equipment; you’ll soon start seeing more patients stream into your practice.