DENTAL GUIDELINES / REPAIRS
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All dental machines require annual maintenance to validate compliance and functionality of your equipment. 'Preventative maintenance' can help monitor the condition of a machine over time and greatly improve reliability, but 'invasive maintenance' will always be necessary to restore equipment to manufacture specifications. The importance of the annual certification is that it satisfies regulatory agency requirements, ensures sterility in the medical field, addresses equipment safety concerns, and offers your staff better training with the equipment in use. Dental machines come in a variety of forms like: sonic, ultrasonic, compressor, electronic, magnetic (transducer), gas driven with each handpiece being unique to the machine it is coupled with. STASIS often sees models from Engler, IM3, Delmarva, Midmark, Bonart, and Dentalaire, however there are many different brands sold under private label with compatible parts. Just as unique as the handpieces are to the machine, so is the corresponding maintenance schedule to go with it. Many of these machines will continue to 'work' without preventative maintenance but your staff can not validate any sterility, safety, or accuracy which can damage the equipment in use and pose a greater health risk to the patient being practiced on.
Most commonly in veterinary practice, the infrequency of appropriate maintenance often leads to broken equipment beyond repair that maintenance itself would have fixed. On these dental machines are often a motor very similar in theory to a car. There are 'air intake filters,' 'oil filters,' 'o-rings,' 'exhaust mufflers (catalytic converter,' etc. which just like a car, has scheduled maintenance needs. Often these things are overlooked because they appear to be 'working,' but small problems become much larger. Your 'air intake filter element,' just like a car, needs to be replaced. Being in a veterinary environment, hair and debris will slowly begin to cause the machine to 'clog' in the filter making the motor work harder. The symptom may be 'my machine is getting louder' but it still 'works.' Soon, it will become so loud that the staff doesn't like using the equipment, your patients will become more sensitive under anesthesia to noise, and ultimately you will stress your motor because of the restriction. This will lastly lead the motor itself to eventually 'over-heat' shorting circuits, 'clog' internally with debris jamming pistons, throw regulator settings off, and create a situation where a $30.00 part once a year, will now cost $1,000.00 minimum for a new motor as the old one is beyond repair. You will now have issues of inconvenienced downtime, finding a comparable rental equipment, and expensive repairs, all of which will repeat itself again in time because maintenance is neglected. While the 'air intake filter' is one point of maintenance, 'oil', 'oil filters', 'water filters', 'o-rings,' 'particle filters,' etc. will each cause their own unique sets of problems still leading to the inconvenience of repairs that maintenance again would have solved.
Handpieces themselves do require maintenance just like the 'dental unit.' Most facilities know to 'oil' their handpieces but are not using an appropriate lubricate nor are they being cleaned. Just as previously stated, an unmaintained 'dental unit' with a bad 'intake filter' will now pull through 'contaminated air' which will go through the whole unit. As your turbines and micromotors use this 'drive air' to turn these driveshafts (transmissions) and shaft-cores (turbines), this debris will begin to accumulate internally being compacted in. This will then be combined with the 'biofilm' contaminants from the tools being used in operation like 'water', 'prophy paste,' blood, etc. which is only exacerbating a problem with internal cleanliness. In reference, your highs speed (drills) rotate up to 450,000 RPM, low speed (polishers) 30,000 RPM, and scalers at 30 KHz. This creates enormous amounts of heat through friction which can wear bearings, snap gears, and warp equipment out of spec. Autoclaves can help 'sterilize' but can sometimes make situations worse where if an 'unclean' handpiece is to enter the 'autoclave,' the 'debris' will now 'bake' onto these moving parts. Regardless of the 'lubricant' used, the cleaning that is necessary to remove 'debris' is missed. The common theme of 'it works' so I don't need maintenance will lead to problems beyond on repairs. For example, this 'debris' beginning to build up will restrict pressure being delivered to the handpiece. The treatment of the 'symptom' being reduced pressure (torque/power) to an inexperienced technician would be to, 'turn up the pressure.' Now by adding more pressure, you may get some power returned, but you are only stressing the handpieces even more because they were never cleaned having to rotate with the 'biofilm' restricting motion. Now, you will have also set the 'control panel handpieces' out of specifications from the manufacture by trying to create more artificial power. When running your handpiece, it would be like running a car at the 'red-line' limit. You can not go any faster, your tools are under constant stress while working, and you will significantly shorten its mechanical lifespan. Performing any procedure with an 'out of spec.' handpiece will cause 'burrs' to 'slip,' 'walk-out,' and exhibit 'rotational imbalances' giving the user unreliable results. Especially due to the high RPM limit, most complications arise not from the surgery but from the equipment itself malfunctioning exposing major liabilities with this uncontrolled power and potentially extreme harm to the patient. The tools being used have now been 'stressed' out of 'spec.' While replacing a turbine at one time may have been possible, the bearings have now 'ground and wore down' the 'back-cap' and 'head' which has mechanically altered the dental handpiece with no replaceable parts as the dimensions are no longer in manufacture spec. No manufacturer will honor a warranty in this condition and likewise, no repairs can fix the damaged that has been caused. New handpieces easily range from $400.00 to $1,500.00 for quality OEM parts. This problem will only repeat if maintenance is not performed as the true diagnosis of an 'unclean' handpiece is not addressed from the source. It is important though to see the progression of how something as simple as cleaning and basic maintenance can cause costly problems and a health risk to the patient we are trying to help.
Maintenance is a preventive action, like a vaccination. It does not always guarantee immunity but it greatly reduces the chance of infection. Giving a vaccination after infection does not help like attempting maintenance after a breakdown. While repairs are possible, the benefits of maintenance far outweighs any cost for 'invasive maintenance.' The true benefit of maintenance is that the machine can be monitored and documented over time, thus returning it to a safe, clean, and usable condition for your staff. As many of these problems may develop, the scheduled maintenance allows for a recognition of what is 'normal,' how to 'reset' to appropriate calibrations, and staff training to identify potential issues or 'user error' complications. All machines come preset to a manufacturer specification unique to the machine itself and the tools used with it. Over time of constant use, valves, regulators, o-rings, and other parts begin to wear differently depending on the frequency of use shifting these specifications. For the dental only facility to the occasional limited hygienist cleaning, different machines will wear at different rates which means different maintenance will be required. It is the same procedure every time but having an experienced technician can help quickly guide the staff to the areas of concern before a breakdown occurs. Also having a consistent service technician allows for the identification of various parts that may be unique to the machine itself so a comparable rental can be integrated. Due to the multitude of parts and generations of machines, obsolescence is an ongoing issue where an experienced technician can better diagnose what is worth repairing or better off replacing. Just like the patients you see over the years, their age and health necessitates different treatments just like the machines. Having a good technician maintain your equipment gives your doctor and staff the confidence that their procedures will be effective with limited liability. If you have any questions regarding any of these processes for certification, please 'Contact Us' promptly so we can identify these problems before they get worse. The basic guidelines of a functioning dental unit consists of: maintenance procedures, systems functions, handpiece validation, and control calibration.
Most commonly in veterinary practice, the infrequency of appropriate maintenance often leads to broken equipment beyond repair that maintenance itself would have fixed. On these dental machines are often a motor very similar in theory to a car. There are 'air intake filters,' 'oil filters,' 'o-rings,' 'exhaust mufflers (catalytic converter,' etc. which just like a car, has scheduled maintenance needs. Often these things are overlooked because they appear to be 'working,' but small problems become much larger. Your 'air intake filter element,' just like a car, needs to be replaced. Being in a veterinary environment, hair and debris will slowly begin to cause the machine to 'clog' in the filter making the motor work harder. The symptom may be 'my machine is getting louder' but it still 'works.' Soon, it will become so loud that the staff doesn't like using the equipment, your patients will become more sensitive under anesthesia to noise, and ultimately you will stress your motor because of the restriction. This will lastly lead the motor itself to eventually 'over-heat' shorting circuits, 'clog' internally with debris jamming pistons, throw regulator settings off, and create a situation where a $30.00 part once a year, will now cost $1,000.00 minimum for a new motor as the old one is beyond repair. You will now have issues of inconvenienced downtime, finding a comparable rental equipment, and expensive repairs, all of which will repeat itself again in time because maintenance is neglected. While the 'air intake filter' is one point of maintenance, 'oil', 'oil filters', 'water filters', 'o-rings,' 'particle filters,' etc. will each cause their own unique sets of problems still leading to the inconvenience of repairs that maintenance again would have solved.
Handpieces themselves do require maintenance just like the 'dental unit.' Most facilities know to 'oil' their handpieces but are not using an appropriate lubricate nor are they being cleaned. Just as previously stated, an unmaintained 'dental unit' with a bad 'intake filter' will now pull through 'contaminated air' which will go through the whole unit. As your turbines and micromotors use this 'drive air' to turn these driveshafts (transmissions) and shaft-cores (turbines), this debris will begin to accumulate internally being compacted in. This will then be combined with the 'biofilm' contaminants from the tools being used in operation like 'water', 'prophy paste,' blood, etc. which is only exacerbating a problem with internal cleanliness. In reference, your highs speed (drills) rotate up to 450,000 RPM, low speed (polishers) 30,000 RPM, and scalers at 30 KHz. This creates enormous amounts of heat through friction which can wear bearings, snap gears, and warp equipment out of spec. Autoclaves can help 'sterilize' but can sometimes make situations worse where if an 'unclean' handpiece is to enter the 'autoclave,' the 'debris' will now 'bake' onto these moving parts. Regardless of the 'lubricant' used, the cleaning that is necessary to remove 'debris' is missed. The common theme of 'it works' so I don't need maintenance will lead to problems beyond on repairs. For example, this 'debris' beginning to build up will restrict pressure being delivered to the handpiece. The treatment of the 'symptom' being reduced pressure (torque/power) to an inexperienced technician would be to, 'turn up the pressure.' Now by adding more pressure, you may get some power returned, but you are only stressing the handpieces even more because they were never cleaned having to rotate with the 'biofilm' restricting motion. Now, you will have also set the 'control panel handpieces' out of specifications from the manufacture by trying to create more artificial power. When running your handpiece, it would be like running a car at the 'red-line' limit. You can not go any faster, your tools are under constant stress while working, and you will significantly shorten its mechanical lifespan. Performing any procedure with an 'out of spec.' handpiece will cause 'burrs' to 'slip,' 'walk-out,' and exhibit 'rotational imbalances' giving the user unreliable results. Especially due to the high RPM limit, most complications arise not from the surgery but from the equipment itself malfunctioning exposing major liabilities with this uncontrolled power and potentially extreme harm to the patient. The tools being used have now been 'stressed' out of 'spec.' While replacing a turbine at one time may have been possible, the bearings have now 'ground and wore down' the 'back-cap' and 'head' which has mechanically altered the dental handpiece with no replaceable parts as the dimensions are no longer in manufacture spec. No manufacturer will honor a warranty in this condition and likewise, no repairs can fix the damaged that has been caused. New handpieces easily range from $400.00 to $1,500.00 for quality OEM parts. This problem will only repeat if maintenance is not performed as the true diagnosis of an 'unclean' handpiece is not addressed from the source. It is important though to see the progression of how something as simple as cleaning and basic maintenance can cause costly problems and a health risk to the patient we are trying to help.
Maintenance is a preventive action, like a vaccination. It does not always guarantee immunity but it greatly reduces the chance of infection. Giving a vaccination after infection does not help like attempting maintenance after a breakdown. While repairs are possible, the benefits of maintenance far outweighs any cost for 'invasive maintenance.' The true benefit of maintenance is that the machine can be monitored and documented over time, thus returning it to a safe, clean, and usable condition for your staff. As many of these problems may develop, the scheduled maintenance allows for a recognition of what is 'normal,' how to 'reset' to appropriate calibrations, and staff training to identify potential issues or 'user error' complications. All machines come preset to a manufacturer specification unique to the machine itself and the tools used with it. Over time of constant use, valves, regulators, o-rings, and other parts begin to wear differently depending on the frequency of use shifting these specifications. For the dental only facility to the occasional limited hygienist cleaning, different machines will wear at different rates which means different maintenance will be required. It is the same procedure every time but having an experienced technician can help quickly guide the staff to the areas of concern before a breakdown occurs. Also having a consistent service technician allows for the identification of various parts that may be unique to the machine itself so a comparable rental can be integrated. Due to the multitude of parts and generations of machines, obsolescence is an ongoing issue where an experienced technician can better diagnose what is worth repairing or better off replacing. Just like the patients you see over the years, their age and health necessitates different treatments just like the machines. Having a good technician maintain your equipment gives your doctor and staff the confidence that their procedures will be effective with limited liability. If you have any questions regarding any of these processes for certification, please 'Contact Us' promptly so we can identify these problems before they get worse. The basic guidelines of a functioning dental unit consists of: maintenance procedures, systems functions, handpiece validation, and control calibration.
