Setting up a dental office is a comprehensive undertaking that requires a thorough inventory list. You must ensure you’re fully stocked with all basic dental equipment for the multiple types of procedures dentists and hygienists perform daily.
A single appointment requires many different tools for treatments like basic exams, cleanings, endodontics, oral surgery, and more.
To help ensure you’ve covered all your bases, here’s a comprehensive list of the different types of basic dental equipment all dental offices need.
Table of Contents
1. Large Dental Equipment
Each space will need enough room for all the large dental equipment required to fulfill appointments.
This includes sanitation and sterilization equipment and the equipment required to provide pressurized water, suction, and air for your handpieces, such as separation tanks, vacuums, amalgam separators, and compressor units.
It also includes dentist and assistant carts, computers and monitors, and chairs for patients and dentists/hygienists. Each dental room should be equipped with a wall or ceiling-mounted dental light. Most have TVs and floor mats.
2. Laboratory Equipment
Not all dental equipment is found in dental rooms. You’ll also need to stock your laboratory with trays and tray materials, mixing bowls and milling blocks, buffs, clasps, bars, air blasters, and light curing units.
Wax tools, spacers, cleaning alcohol, pressure pots, and torches round out this list.
3. Handheld Dental Tools
Hygienists and dentists need specialized tools and supplies to perform various dental procedures.
Some of the most common handheld dental tools are rotary tools, which perform rotational movements at different speeds.
Dental turbines are driven by air compression to remove hard tissue from teeth (like enamel). A micromotor is a low-speed dental tool used to remove semi-hard dental tissues.
Dental handpieces transmit micromotor rotation to the dental burs. Dental contra-angles are connected to the micromotor as well.
They’re primarily used for prevention and endodontic treatments, to remove dentin, polish teeth, and to prepare the teeth for crowns, cavities, and fillings.
4. Small Dental Supplies
Stock your dental office with other small supplies, including excavators, cement, drills, intraoral cameras, and cheek retractors.
You’ll need cleaning paste, scalers, burs, whiteners, veneers, small mouth examination mirrors, blades and cutters.
Laparoscopic equipment, curettes, scissors, dental dams, acrylic liquid/powders, grommets, alloys, needles, moulds, prophy angles, and burnishers are also required.
Don’t forget to add syringes and local anesthetic, resins and composites, probes, tweezers, pliers, forceps, crowns and bridges, trays and cassettes, and fluoride to your inventory list of small supplies.
To maintain quality, you should order dental supplies online from reputable companies.
5. X-ray Equipment
X-ray imaging requires lots of equipment. Whether you’re planning to take traditional or digital X-rays, you’ll need barriers, mounts and plates, illuminators, chemicals, racks and loops.
You’ll need film, film holders, developing equipment, and patient safety vests.
6. Disposable and Reusable Patient Equipment
At each appointment, your patients will use and dispose of many items. You’ll need to stock up on this disposable inventory and refill it often to avoid running out.
This basic dental equipment includes water cups, gauze and paper towels, paper clip-on patient bibs, and tissues. Both dentists and patients will wear protective eyeglasses.
Other disposables you’ll need to buy for patient care include floss and threaders, wooden tongue depressors, disposable gloves, cotton swab applicators, cotton rolls, dispensing tips, and applicator brushes.
Most dental offices will send patients home with goody bags filled with sample tubes of toothpaste, toothbrushes, and floss. You’ll need lots of appointment cards, too.
Other dental equipment your patients will use at each appointment is reusable rather than disposable. This includes sinks and handheld mirrors.
7. Prosthodontic and Orthodontic Equipment
If you plan to offer prosthodontic and orthodontic therapy, your inventory list will grow further, as these services also require specialized equipment.
For prosthodontics, you’ll need on-hand dentures (as well as cases and adhesives), denture brushes, impression materials, flasks, and other requirements.
To perform orthodontic treatment, dentists require retainers (and cases), stick ties, expanders and screws, spacers, gauges, and tissue guards, as well as brackets and chains. Hooks, plaster, wax, elastic bands and removers are also must-buys.
8. Miscellaneous Equipment
To equip your dental office, you need more than just equipment for the dental rooms themselves. You’ll need hand sanitizer, a water cooler, desks, chairs, tables and magazines for the waiting room. Pens, paper, calendars, and other administrative supplies will also be needed.
Bathrooms must have trash bins, bags, soaps, and brooms. Your staff and patients will also require personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer, and air purifiers.
