Planning to open a dental clinic! Check for your essentials!

Maintaining good oral health occupies an important place in health management. With the growing concern for oral health, more dental clinics are the need of the hour. If it is the right time to start your dental clinic, here is some information to share.

At present, dental clinics, apart from offering routine services such as filling cavities and cleanings, offer cosmetic dentistry services such as whitening and implants. Based on the type of services the dental clinic offers, we need to generate the essential checklist of instruments and equipment.

Examination Instruments

In dental clinics, dentists use basic dental examination instruments for the initial intraoral dental examination. A dentist uses dental examination mirrors and dental probes to view their patient’s oral cavity directly and during dental procedures. Single-use disposable examination instruments are used during field visits or while examining patients with a high risk of infection to prevent cross-contamination issues.

Dental mirrors

Dentists use the dental mirror as a mouth separator for direct and indirect viewing and explore the oral cavity of the patients. Dental mirrors are available in small, medium, and large sizes. The dental mirrors are available in round or D shape or teardrop shapes. Double-sized dental mirrors allow enhanced visibility of the tissues.

Dental Probes

Dental probes are tools used to measure the decay of the tooth. A dental probe is an instrument that ends with a long and thin tip and has markings along its side to measure in millimeters. The scanning probe measures the level of caries or bacterial plaque on the tooth.

Periodontal probe, straight probe, and Briault probe are the three types of probes. The periodontal probe detects the calculus, the straight probe checks for cavities in the surface of the teeth, and the Briault probe detects caries developing in between the teeth and the tartar hidden in the gum pockets.

Sterilisation Equipment

Sterilisation equipment sterilised dental tools every day after use. The cleaning process uses either dry heat or steam to sterilise and dry instruments. It eliminates cross-contamination of dental tools and prevents infection in patients.

A hot water bath cleans used dental tools by immersing and washing in hot water. A needle burner burns needles to prevent needle injuries and recapping. It is available with a compact design that fits on the desktop. A needle burner consumes less power and has a high-grade steel cutter.

Glass bead sterilisers aid in sterilisation of tweezers and scissors to get rid of bacteria, fungi, and viruses. You can insert the small, handy instruments into the beads and sterilise the submerged portion of the scissors and tweezers within 15 seconds.

UV chambers in dental clinics are effective against viruses, bacteria, and spores. Dental tools are in miniature sizes and so UV chambers disinfect a complete set of dental tools in one go.

Choosing Your Furniture

Chairs at your dental clinic must be comfortable both for you and your patients. For dentists, chairs with thin backrests allow them to move around with ease while examining patients or during dental procedures. Choosing chairs with replaceable covers will extend the life of chairs.

Dental patient chairs must-have comfortable padding and movable armrests so that patients can get on and off chairs easily. A footswitch or touchpad to change positions with ample legroom helps the dentist to work flexibly.

Increasingly becoming popular, dentist saddle chairs/stools help dentists to maintain a balanced posture while performing dental procedures and treatments. Moving the dental saddle chair or stool from one place to another occurs smoothly and encourages a neutral pelvic position.

In addition to dental chairs and stools, you may also need standing tables for medical equipment, surgical carts, and tables with drawers to store tools in the laboratory.

Utility Equipment

Dental utility equipment provides water, suction, and pressurised air necessary for operating handpieces and other dental equipment. Dental compressors, amalgam separators, separation tanks, and vacuums are some components of utility equipment.

Dental Operating Lights

Proper lighting at the work table is needed for accurate diagnosis, successful dental operations, and other quality services. The dental operating lights can be mounted on the wall, ceiling, or cabinet. The light should be bright without producing shadows or disturbing the patient.

Cabinet lamps designed with a concave surface along with an articulated arm and head can either be wall or floor mounted. The concave surface reflects LED light or halogen to identify realistic colours during restorative dental procedures or treatment.

X-Ray/Imaging Instruments

Dental X-ray equipment detects even tiny signs of oral health problems. Gum disease, cavities, and infections can be detected at their earliest stage and treated on time.

Digital X-ray equipment produces higher-resolution images that a dentist can access and share through a tablet or a computer. Intraoral X-ray sensors, digital panoramic X-ray systems, and phosphor plate X-ray systems are some types of digital radiography systems.

Dental Handpieces

A dental handpiece is used to perform routine dental procedures to complex dental treatments that involve surgeries. It is a hand-held, mechanical instrument used to remove tooth decay, polish fillings, alter prostheses, and perform cosmetic dentistry.

High-speed air-driven or airotor, friction grip, low-speed air-driven, and surgical handpiece are some dental handpiece models that operate at different speeds. Check the model for its weight, head size, and balancing control to ensure it is easy and comfortable to use.

Dental Cabinetry

Dental cabinets store all dental hygiene equipment, instruments, fluoride trays, prophy angles, nitrous oxide tanks, gloves, and gauze.

As effective storage solutions, dental cabinets give a neat and organised appearance, and they help to locate and access materials quickly. While choosing your dental cabinet, consider its aesthetic appearance and its durability. Mobile cabinetry, rear cabinetry, side cabinetry, and center island cabinetry are some models of dental cabinets.

Scrubs

Scrubs help dental professionals and dental assistants safe from getting infected with droplets of saliva or blood during dental procedures. Choose scrubs from the colours and patterns of your choice.

Scrubs help to identify dental team members and keep them safe. They help your dental clinic to get a uniform look.

Dental Consumables

Nitrile gloves, napkins, saliva aspirators, cotton rolls, cellulose, mouth rinse cups and covers, surgical masks, and cannulas are some consumables needed for daily use in your dental clinic.

Dental consumables like braces, crowns, implants, prosthetics and dental impression materials are used for treating dental caries, periodontal diseases, tooth restoration, and gingival tissues.

Using Computers

Computers are a must in dental clinics to store patient data, digital files, display digital images, and communication.

Some dental clinics have Tablets where patients can enter their data that is stored directly as a digital file.

Conclusion

A dental clinic must be sterile, clean, and comfortable for both the patients and the dentist.

Care should be taken to purchase equipment and other materials with higher quality so that a new dental clinic looks perfect to the core.