Ever hate having to call the repair tech out to the office?  Having downtime because equipment stops working as intended?  Here are some ways to avoid the most common causes of needing to call a tech and incurring repair and trip charges.  Most of this is so easy to do, even you or your assistant can handle it.

  1. Keep extra air/water syringe buttons.  A rebuild kit has o-rings and springs, everything you need to DIY.
  2. Keep backup control levers for suctions, as well as extra toggles for rheostat.
  3. If you have a Dry Ring Vacuum: keep an extra belt.  The main reason for production downtime is ordering them.
  4. When buying a compressor, get a dual head.  This way if one compressor fails, you can still do dentistry until it gets fixed.
  5. Keep updated x-ray documentation and requirements for your state.  Including proper forms in binder with QA/QC testing.
  6. Sterilizers – keep an extra Gasket (the rubber ring).  These fail typically yearly, and not replacing them soon leads to far more expensive sterilizer breakdown costs.
  7. Buy a small tool kit from Home Depot/Lowes.  Most important is a set of allen wrenches, most things in the office use them.
  8. Handpieces – clean and lube after each use.  Handpieces can last years if well maintained.    Keep an extra light bulb, they burn out like any other light bulb.  And always repair with mfg approved parts.
  9. Keep extra rubber tips for the Saliva ejector.  They get lost easily.
  10. Have someone perform yearly maintenance on your mechanical room: compressor, vacuum, water bypass, and amalgam separator.

All of these can shut the entire office down if they go bad unexpectedly.