Keeping dental equipment in good working order is essential if you want to maintain a profitable and unencumbered dental practice. The staff in the dental clinic must commit only a minimal amount of time to proper care of the equipment.

This is the fourth one from our maintenance blog series. If you missed our previous three posts on handpiece maintenance, dental chair maintenance, and the maintenance of air compressors, you can visit our websites.

Most dental procedures require the use of a suction system that aspirates all the oral fluids including saliva, blood, etc. from the oral cavity for a better operating procedure without compromising the visibility that eventually increases the comfort of the patient.

When it is working properly, the healthcare team and the patients have a great experience during dental procedures. However, a reduction in suction volume causes both the staff and the patient to be stressed and concerned due to the increased risk of contamination and infections.

Why the suction system needs maintenance?

This system like much of the equipment in the dental clinic requires regular maintenance to perform properly. It is frequently overlooked since it necessitates the manual cleaning of traps that create a foul odour.

Cleaning the suction pipes and the solids filter net on a regular basis is required to keep the system running properly. The inability to maintain dental suction lines on a regular basis could result in a variety of issues at the dental office.

·         Back flow of the suctioned materials

·         Serious hygiene issues

·         Health risk to the patient

·         More Aerosol cloud formation due to less aspiration power

·         Risk of contamination

·         Lower productivity due to slow suction power

·         Decreased suction system efficiency

There are numerous advantages associated with maintaining a dental evacuation system. Suction lines will stay free of particulate refurbish, the suction flow will be sustained and patients will receive the best quality of care if effective cleaning methods are followed.

3 Useful Tips to Maintain the Suction System

There are several routine maintenance procedures that must be completed in order to keep your suction system in perfect condition. Its maintenance will extend its total life; therefore, it is well worth the time expended.

1 – Daily Flushing of Suction Lines

It is recommended to clean the suction tubes on a daily basis to avoid the build-up of materials inside the tubes that may cause clogging later on. Because chlorine can cause rusting of internal valves or other metal parts inside the lines, chlorine-based disinfectants should never be used for cleaning purposes. When the right disinfectant is used, it provides a safe and cost-effective solution.

For a dry suction system, the use of a non-foaming cleanser is suggested as there is a chance of debris coating around the air rotor with a loss of suction volume in the case of foaming cleansers. With the daily cleaning of the suction lines, the chances of backflow of the suctioned materials are greatly reduced.

2 – Daily Cleaning of Debris Filter Net

The solid debris is aspirated through the suction line whenever the dentist removes the old restoration or during the alginate impression-making procedure. Traditional suctions drive the debris into the lines which can clog them.  But nowadays there is a debris filter net that collects all the solid debris during the suctioning and prevents clogging inside the lines. Hence it becomes necessary to clean the filter net on a daily basis. This also prevents the bad odour that comes from clogging the drainage line maintaining the clinic’s hygiene.

#3 – Annual Appointment with the Service Engineer

Annually, a schedule has to be arranged with the service engineer for proper inspection of the suction system and replacement of filters or any other parts as per the requirement. If any part requires repair, that also can be done during that period. Because dry suction systems are oil-free, the inspection & replacement of micro-filter is required every 6 months which can also be done by the service engineer.

Unicorn Denmart makes this process a lot easier by providing prompt servicing with minimal Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC), which gives the dentist a guarantee of uninterrupted dental practice and strengthens their faith in the Unicorn Denmart service.

Conclusion:

The most significant advantage of this routine maintenance of the suction system is increased reliability and reduced “downtime”. An appropriate maintenance program can help to improve the clinic’s hygiene and the suction system’s efficiency. A dental suction system is expensive to replace, and in many situations, relatively simple maintenance would extend the system’s life. Because the suction system is the heart of the dental office, it is important to maintain it properly by using the right cleaning product that also boosts the clinic’s productivity.