Extending your Reach with Dental Mobile Units

It is not uncommon for most of the skilled dental practitioners to focus on setting up a practice in a more urbanized and populated part of the country. However, as a progressive dentist, you will realize that the rural areas, the suburbs and the countryside also offer huge opportunities for dental experts.

Whether you are looking for a unique way to offer dental care or are planning to start your own not for profit organization, investing in dental mobile units is a practical and effective way to achieve your personal goals.

Giving your Practice a Unique Approach

With a mobile dental clinic, you are essentially giving your dental career a distinct and unique twist. With the help of a mobile unit, you will be able to offer your patients access to high quality dental care wherever and whenever deemed necessary.

Enhanced Functionality

Most dental mobile units come with a modestly-sized chassis that makes it extremely convenient to drive from one point to another. In addition to this, the spacious interiors make it possible to stock it with all necessary dental supplies and also customize it as per the requirements of your practice.

These units are designed to allow efficient four-handed dentistry and it is also possible for dental experts to perform complex restorative and surgical procedures within these vans. If you are running a not for profit dental organization, you can also feel free to drive it cross country to spread your case and encourage minor treatments such as cleanings, exams and use of sealants.

What’s more? Your list of dental supplies can be extended to hi-tech equipment such as intraoral X-ray machines that can help digitally diagnose prevailing problems in your patients.

Why Invest in a Mobile Van?

After having been used by a significant number of healthcare institutions and independent dentists, the advantages of investing in a mobile dental unit are quite evident. These vans are extremely practical, functional and designed keeping in mind the need of the hour with respect to oral care.

With the help of a mobile van, you can essentially improve your local support and maximize your time with your patients. These vans allow you to provide responsive support to all your patients and consequently cater to the specific needs of the community that you serve.

With a mobile unit, you are also essentially opening doors to more opportunities for your practice. You can efficiently start planning outreach programs to old age homes, schools, industrial areas and other parts of your city.

The added access that is possible through the use of mobile units is known to benefit dentists as well as patients. In addition to expanding the scope of your practice, you also end up saving tons of money and time!

Creating a Successful Dental Practice

You have rented out a great office, bought all the right dental equipments, and spent months finding the perfect support team for your practice. Yet, there are a number of apprehensions that are prevalent regarding the future of your practice.

It is natural for a start up dentist to be worried about his future, but if he or she is able to seriously consider the following factors, chances are that you will be able to achieve your professional goals with great ease.

1. Your Team

While selecting your support staff, it is important that you look beyond their professional qualifications and assess their attitude towards work. Your team must comprise of people with strong ethics, leadership skills and the ability to bring in a touch of efficiency into your system. Eventually, you need to make sure that your team runs like a well greased machine at all times. Divide your duties to ensure effective results.

2. Your Dental Equipment

Just because you may have spent thousands of dollars on your dental parts, it is not necessary that your office is well equipped. Conduct a comprehensive market research on what type of equipments you will definitely need to start your practice and what tools you will require to provide value addition to your patients. Now, set a budget and start talking to potential vendors.

Visit offices of your mentors and peers to understand what dental parts they use on a regular basis and which vendors are they associated with. While negotiating with an equipment manufacturer or dealer, make sure you consider maintenance as a crucial factor of your deal.  

3. How you Treat your Patients

No matter how skilled you are as a dentist, it is important to remember that the treatment of any patient begins from the point he or she enters your office. It is important for you to set strict rules about how each patient is welcomed into your clinic. The ambiance of your waiting area must offer a positive feeling to all those who spend time there.

Setting systems between yourself and the members of your staff with respect to retaining patients, helping those who are upset and answering all their questions can truly help set a positive impression.  

4. IT Support

It today’s day and age, healthcare service delivery can be taken to a whole new level by effective use of technology. In addition to investing in the best and most modern equipment for your office, it is also beneficial to invest in software that allows you to carry on a number of operational tasks with great ease.

With the right team, environment, equipment and technology in place, your practice can start soaring to new heights!

Things you must know before Investing in Dental Operatory Systems and Other Equipment

When you are considering the purchase of comprehensive dental operatory systems and other equipments, it is important that you focus on investing on quality items. Whether you are starting a new dental clinic or are looking at upgrading your current set up, only associate with reputed vendors.

A basic research will show you how there are hundreds of kinds of dental delivery systems and equipments available in the market. Here are a few considerations that you need to make before you place your order-

1. 1. What do you Need?

When you are looking for operatory systems for your office, it is important for you to first shortlist the equipments you will actually need. Take into consideration the space you have at hand, and how much you will be able to fit into it. Avoid overcrowding, since patient comfort is an essential indicator of whether or not he or she will come back to you.

The dental equipment that you need will come in a myriad of sizes. With options to choose from for your mouth mirror, chairs, tables, dental stools and carts, pick items that go well with the space you have to fill it up with.

1. 2. Finding the Best Deals

Considering that you will probably be putting your life’s savings into setting up your dental office, it is always good to conduct a price comparison while shopping. Many operatory systems cost thousands of dollars and a basic research can save you a significant sum.

• Scouting the Internet - Also, you will notice that there are a number of sources through which you can purchase your dental equipment. The internet is the best place to scout for good deals. Researching each piece of equipment on the internet is a practical way to assess the average cost of each item. This will also allow you to gain a good ideal on the brands available, quality and availability of each item. Staying as informed as possible is the best way to make correct purchase decisions.

• Speaking to the Manufacturers - Many times, buying straight for the manufacturer is a great way to save money. Get in touch with a manufacturer that offers comprehensive operatory systems and other equipments. This way you will be able to negotiate a better deal for yourself.

The ideal thing to do is to find manufacturers and suppliers who have a significant online presence. This way you can gain access to unbiased user reviews, price comparisons and also the best quality of equipment that is available in the market. Feel free to ask questions and dig deeper. Also speak to your mentors, local healthcare facilities and peers to acquire recommendations on reputed suppliers and manufacturers of dental equipment.

Equipments all Dental Assistants must be Familiar with

As a dental assistant, you will be expected to help other dentistry experts in the office, laboratory and other environments which demand patient care. Duties such as disinfecting, sterilizing, pre procedure preparations and bringing out of relevant dental tools and equipments are some of the primary duties a dental assistant will be expected to conduct.

Over and above this, if you are skilled enough, your dentist may also allow you to assist him or her in some procedures. However, if you wish to truly make an impression and progress in this field, it is important that you familiarize yourself with some of the following equipments and materials that you will be expected to use on a routine basis.

1. Air-Water Syringe

As the name suggests, this particular piece of equipment helps bring in air or water, or both into the mouth of your patient. As a dental assistant you may be expected to use this when you need to wet a particular area of a mouth; to wash out the area after a particular procedure; or to clean away all debris and fluids so that your dentist can continue doing his work.

It is most often employed when the patient starts to bleed and the assistant will need to wash away the blood. This syringe typically consists of a controller head that helps you manage the injection of air and water alternatively or both together at the same time. These syringes are typically connected to dental hoses which are in turn connected to containers that consist of pressured air, plastic and water. They come with removable tips that essentially go into the mouth of the patients.

1. Saliva Ejectors

This ejector is essential a dental vacuum hose that helps dental assistants to suck out the saliva from the mouth of a patient. Since the patient is not able to close his or her mouth while the dentist is working, swallowing becomes difficult. These vacuum dental hoses help assistants in getting rid of the accumulated saliva which builds in the mouth and hinders the work of dentists.

As a dental assistant, you will make use of these ejectors to make sure the dentist and comfortably continue working on a patient. These dental hand piece hoses also help in removing water, blood and other fluids from the mouth of the patient.

1. High-Volume Evacuator

Similar to a saliva ejector, this particular equipment is used to remove larger debris such as chipped pieces of your teeth, and other objects that have a chance of falling into the mouth of the patient in the due course of the procedure.

In addition to this, you may also be expected to gain familiarity with equipments and tools specific to the nature of practice that you are assisting.

Your Guide to Buying the Perfect Dental Chair

When we asked 100 patients about factors that influence their impression of a dental clinic, the quintessential dental chair ranked among the top 5 influences.

This chair can be one of the most distinct negative images that are associated with the dental profession. More often than not, it is associated with vulnerability and discomfort for patients. Fortunately for your practice, modern day chairs can be comfortable for both the patient as well as the dentist. Coupled with ergonomically designed dental stools and assembly of modern equipments, by selecting the correct chair, you can truly transform the perception of your practice among your patients.

Selecting the Right Chair 

Just a few years ago, selecting an appropriate dental chair was hardly an effort. All you were expected to do was to choose perfect coloured dental stool and close your purchase.

• Putting Patients First

In today’s day and age, dental experts are much more conscious about what the market has to offer and how important it is to select the correct chair that comes with the right technologies built in to provide comfort, operatory ergonomics, efficiency and eventually profitability to the practice.

• Developing an Effective Practice Environment

As a practitioner, you must spend significant time towards the development of an effective practice environment. Your chair must complement the physical requirements of your patients and also meet all the clinical demands of your practice.

• Conducting Research

It is almost never possible for you to put a chair to test in a real life operating condition. It is thus, all the more important that you perform a detailed homework before you make your final purchase decision. There are a number of sources you can explore, but the most understated of them all is your own personal experience.

Take notes about the practicalities and benefits associated with the chair you are currently using. Combine this with what your secondary research tells you about the new trends in designs. By merging your parameters of an ideal chair for your practice, you will have a clearer idea on what it is that you are looking for.

• Finding the Balance between Design and Technology

While you are assessing the latest designs, make sure you also take into consideration the future needs with respect to equipment technology over the next 10 years. Continuous research in design for the quintessential dentistry chair and other supporting tools compels practitioners to acquire a slightly more visionary perspective towards their purchase decisions. The idea is to put off the obsolescence of your chair as long as you can.

Find a chair that is cost-effective, easy to maintain and comes with a future-oriented platform allowing you to use for years to come.