In this article I would like to share some advice to help ensure dentists get value for their money and do not regret any purchase.
Do research
To use an old adage “Buy in haste, repent at leisure”. Your money is hard earned so spend it carefully. This seems a simple statement but it’s true. Check websites and literature carefully. Speak to your peer group and ask them their experience of the manufacturer and dental dealer.
Use exhibitions properly
Planning and delivering a dental surgery takes time and the one thing that is in short supply at a dental exhibition is time. Grabbing a five minute conversation with a sales person at a crowded stand while your colleague from dental school grabs you and tells you to meet up in 10 minutes at
Starbucks is probably not the best way of approaching your project. By all means appraise dental equipment at shows, but don’t make final decisions there. Make contact with the company and set aside a good period of time to transmit your vision and meet at a dental showroom to appraise the products on show. Avoid show specials on major capital equipment - all that glistens isn’t necessarily gold.
Manufacturer record
Questions to ask; how long has the manufacturer been in your market? Do they have a proven track record for selling equipment to dental schools and for that equipment to prove its reliability and longevity over many years? Does the manufacturer have any other major contracts?
The ‘kiss’ principle
Keep it simple and serviceable (KISS). Downtime for the dental surgery is the enemy. It doesn’t matter how good your dentistry is, if the chair’s not working you are losing money. This is an important consideration when choosing your equipment partner. Are the service engineers regularly trained by the manufacturer? Does the manufacturer have factory trained customer service personnel to fault-find and speed up repair?
Prioritise the patient
Patient comfort is vital. If the chair is too small to fit large patients, what sort of service are you offering them? Can the headrest be extended to meet the back of a tall patient’s head, if not, how can they get comfortable? Remember our population is ever-increasing in size and weight, can the chair lift substantial loads and more importantly can it do it day after day, week after week, year after year. With patient treatments lasting longer and longer having a gap between the chair back and the seat section inhibits comfort and poor lumbar support will lead to the patient shuffling to get comfortable and you with your hands in the air waiting for them to settle.
Make lasting relationships
Buying dental equipment shouldn’t be just about an initial sale. It should be about a lasting relationship for the life of the equipment. Your supplier is there to offer you advice and support so that you maximise your usage of the product. Follow the protocols they show you on equipment handover and don’t be afraid to ask questions if you feel unsure about any aspect of the equipment. Everything mechanical needs a service at some stage so putting a regular service protocol in place is a must.
Reference sites
Don’t be afraid to ask the equipment supplier for previous reference sites and past projects. Any supplier that makes excuses at this stage, steer well clear of. All top suppliers are more than happy to pass on the information you need.
Remember the assistant
Always involve your team in the purchase of major equipment. To make the new surgery run smoothly team acceptance and understanding is vital. When talking about surgery design ask the dental assistant what’s important to them in their day to day role. Most production in the dental surgery happens on the dental assistant’s side so it is important that this is made more efficient. Making the dental assistant more efficient will increase a dentist’s productivity and profitability. Your focus must be the oral cavity and not where the A3.5 composite syringe has gone.
Ergonomics
When designing the surgery, try to eliminate all class V ergonomic movements (no twisting of the torso). Try to keep everything that’s needed in the surgery within a class III or class IV ergonomic movement. In short, create a working cockpit. If the assistant has to scamper on their stool to their nearest cabinet and then scamper back quite clearly this is inefficient. Something as simple as placement of the suction manifold can affect team health in a major way. Placing suction on the spittoon can cause the dental assistant to swivel their torso and cause health issues. Suction to the head of the chair mounted on the cabinet means that all members of the dental team can reach comfortably thus avoiding unnecessary movements.
Materials management
When designing your surgery look at current regulation and look to avoid the pitfalls of cabinetry for the sake of cabinetry. Many forward thinking practices are adopting procedure tubs for fast efficient storage and stock checking of materials. If things are tucked away in cabinets it is easy to forget what’s where. The material tubs can be returned to central stock areas where the staff can monitor usage and re-order based upon tub contents. The tubs can be colour-coded for procedure and staff can assemble the tubs in patient order thus avoiding the assistant leaving the surgery to hunt for materials.
So when it comes to that time to equip your new surgery keep calm and try to follow the tips above. If you feel unsure of the process and how it’s developing don’t be afraid to slow down and assess where the project is going and if it fits with your original ideas and direction. If you get to that indecision crossroads talk to senior colleagues/trainers for advice and don’t be afraid to be open and honest with your equipment dealer/manufacturer’s representative.
If I can leave you with a couple of thoughts in your career ahead the first thought would be to keep you and your staff’s focus on training throughout your working lives. I have visited numerous surgeries in my dental career and have observed that the ones that run efficiently and happily are those with clear leadership from the principal or principals and staff who are up to date and well trained in their role within the practice. The second thought would be when considering price don’t just look at short term, consider the life costs. How long will the equipment last and how much will it cost to service during its lifetime?