Take Care of Your Dental CBCTs and Equipment
Running a dental practice requires ensuring all equipment works correctly and meets compliance and regulations. If any of your dental equipment fails, the downtime can be an incredibly stressful and expensive experience. You end up having to cancel appointments, delay treatment plans and vital diagnostic procedures, which can be frustrating to the patient and your dental staff.
Protecting and maintaining vital imaging systems can help reduce issues, protect you from these costly downtimes, and ensure your equipment can service your patients for as long as possible. More likely than not, your practice has a dental Cone Beam CT (CBCT) Machine. Therefore, you know how important it is to preserve and maintain this vital equipment.
You can give your patients reliable service for years to come at your dental practice. Read on to learn why it is important to maintain your CBCT machine and the best practices to help you extend the life of your CBCT machine.
Why Maintaining Dental Cone Beam CT is Important
Any major dental equipment should be maintained to protect the equipment’s longevity and ensure patient safety is a priority. Maintaining your CBCT machine helps:
- Ensure patient safety – Avoid safety concerns such as faulty parts or unnecessary radiation exposure.
- Keeps your business running efficiently – As long as you keep your machine up and running, you can ensure your patients can be seen on time and avoid rescheduling.
- Provide accurate calibrations – The calibration can extend the equipment’s life and ensure it is taking quality images and the output is accurate.
- Reduce the need for repairs – Keeping up with your routine maintenance can help reduce the need for any costly emergency repairs.
Best Practices to Maintain Your Dental CBCT Machine
Ensure Proper Installation – Your CBCT machine should be installed only by a certified technician. They can map out the space to ensure the machine can function properly while still allowing your staff to move freely and comfortably around it. A certified technician can also ensure the CBCT machine is connected with an adequate power supply and confirm that it’s connected to your dental program and software.
Many states require regular inspections and calibrations of CBCT machines due to the radiation they emit. The inspections or quality assurance checks are required annually to ensure the machine is working properly and is safe for use.
Train Your Staff – If you want to extend the life of your Cone Beam CT machine, you want to only allow properly trained dental staff to operate the machinery when needed. Most manufacturers include training for you and your staff when the machine is purchased. It should be completed soon after its installation and before use on patients. Improper use can cause work delays and cause unnecessary wear and tear.
Perform Routine Preventative Maintenance – While state inspections and calibrations are required annually, the focus is on the proper operations of the machine to prevent radiation exposure. There are some simple maintenance tasks you or your dental staff can perform that can significantly extend the life of the dental CBCT machine.
- Keep the area around the CBCT machine free of clutter to rotate freely without any obstructions.
- If any issues arise, contact a CBCT equipment repair to prevent larger issues down the road.
- Ensure patients are properly positioned within the machine to avoid having to take retakes and cause wear and tear.
- Consistently check your CBCT’s software and update when needed to the current version for optimal performance.
Only Use Certified Technicians for Repair – Although tempting to repair the dental Cone Beam CT machine in-house may seem like it’s a more cost-effective option, you want to avoid further damaging the equipment. Certified technicians are trained specifically in the maintenance and repair of dental x-ray units and CBCT machines. They have special tools, resources, and extensive knowledge that allows them to identify issues quickly and repair them efficiently.
Choosing the Right CBCT Machine
Adding a Cone Beam CT machine to your dental practice can help you provide quality and accurate dental care to your patients. The machine provides valuable and detailed images that can give you incredible insights into the health of your patient’s dental needs. It can be a practice-changing decision. When choosing a CBCT machine, you want to ensure you are getting a high-quality machine at a great price. Shop now and explore our vast selection of CBCT machines today.
