The Compliance Divas Podcast
Our podcast covers current topics such as infection prevention and control, OSHA and HIPAA compliance for dentistry. We discuss the latest regulatory information, answer frequently asked questions and give suggestions for dental practices to make compliance easy and sustainable. The Compliance Divas are a trusted source for consistent, accurate information based upon current guidelines, standards, science, and recommendations.
The Compliance Divas Podcast
#183 Insights from a Dental Equipment Repair Technician: Do's and Don'ts
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
When dental equipment is not functioning properly, there is costly down time and repairs. In this episode, the Compliance Divas interview Donnye Bucy, owner of Dental Solutions based out of Murray, KY. Donnye will share his insights on how you can best maintain your equipment and handpieces to save time and money.
- Equipment Checklist: /https://www.benco.com/benco-dental-u/article/how-to-care-for-your-dental-equipment-a-handy-maintenance-checklist/
- Dental Assistant's Guide to Dental Equipment Maintenance: https://www.dentistryiq.com/dental-assisting/workplace-safety/article/16359418/the -dental-assistants-guide-to-dental-equipment-maintenance
- Dental Solutions Equipment Repair, Murray, Kentucky. http://www.dentalsolutionsbucy.com/
Welcome. I'm Leslie Cannum. I'm Mary Gavoni.
SPEAKER_01I'm Linda Harvey. I'm Olivia Juan, and together we are the Compliance Divas. Welcome to the Compliance Divas podcast. My name is Olivia Juan, and I'll be your moderator today. In this episode, we are gathering insights from a dental equipment repair technicians all about the do's and don'ts. Have you ever been frustrated with the maintenance and repairs of all your dental equipment? With the heavy-duty infection control that we put our equipment through, it can be hard on our equipment. So in today's episode, we're going to interview our guest, Donnie Busey, with Dental Solutions. As the Compliance Divas, we bring clarity and simplicity to compliance by navigating regulatory compliance to keep you on course. Please subscribe to the Compliance Divas podcast through your favorite podcast channel, or you can visit our website, thecompliancedivas.com. Any resources that we mentioned during this episode can be found in the show notes. Please submit your questions to support at the compliancedeevas.com. So let's get started. Donnie, we'd love to know what your thoughts are about the most common issue that you identify as it relates to hand pieces.
SPEAKER_00Well, the biggest issue is not enough preventative maintenance on it. All those hand pieces have little bearings in them, and they all have to have plenty of oil in it. If not, those bearings will lock up, and then you're gonna have problems. And then out comes the money.
SPEAKER_01So that's that's a good point, is the preventive maintenance. And so is that something that you issue reminders when you're working with clinical teams?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, when I start seeing a lot of hand pieces coming to me, I go to the team and I say, Hey, show me how you're oiling and cleaning your hand pieces. And there's different ways to do it. You've got automatic hand piece oilers, and there's also your uh you can just do it manually. You can just take that hand piece right off, put a couple drops of hand piece oil in it, and run it for about 20 seconds, and you're ready to go. It's just a matter of them taking the time to do it, and if they'll do it, things will run a lot better.
SPEAKER_01I agree, and I always encourage them to download the instructions for use depending on the brand of hand piece that they're using, and either compile a notebook of IFUs or throw them into a binder or scan them as a PDF so that they can reference them. But hands down, if they don't maintain it properly, they will not last very long and they are expensive. Uh, Linda, what's your thoughts on some questions?
SPEAKER_02That's some valuable information because even though teams know they should be taking care of the hand pieces and doing the preventive maintenance, we know that they all get busy. And so that's an important key. And especially when there's new team members on board that may not understand the significance of doing that. So I'm glad you're drawing attention to that. But in addition, could you elaborate for us on some dental equipment repairs and what you see some of the common causes are or issues that you run into?
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, um, you know, of course, there's a ton of different kinds of dental equipment in a dental office. I mean, anything from air compressors, vacuums, chairs, stools, I mean lab equipment, you got it all. Um, one of the big things that I see are the sterilizers, they have a lot of trouble. Um, those things have have valves in there that's got little poppets on it. And if it gets any kind of debris inside there, it throws airs, and then you're shut down. And you know, if you're in office that's only got one sterilizer in there, you're in a lot of trouble. So the biggest thing on that is um, like let's just say the mid-mark M11. Uh, there they've got uh something called mid-clean, and you need to run run that through your machine once a month to help keep it all cleaned out, all the gunk in there to keep those out of those little poppets, which clog up very easily. Then you've got vacuums too. You know, your vacuum, your suction machine. That thing's got a filter on it. You need to stay on top of that, keep that cleaned out. Uh, if you don't clean it out, you're gonna lose the suction and also possibly damage your equipment. And that's you know, that's a couple things. If you want to talk about more, we can talk about more also.
SPEAKER_02I have a couple questions on those first. So when you talk about um using the mid-clean product on the M11, so it sounds like it's really important to follow the manufacturer's instructions for use on these devices, right?
SPEAKER_00Definitely. That's that's the best thing for all the equipment is follow the manufacturer's preventative maintenance is that they've got, they've got them set up for weekly, daily, weekly, monthly, annually, even. So just read your operator's manual and it'll tell you for the most part what what needs done.
SPEAKER_02That's perfect. So behind the uh sterilizers and the vacuum, what would you say are the third most common item that you see, Donnie?
SPEAKER_00Well, we see a lot with the air compressors too. Um the air compressors also have filters in them that need to be changed out regularly. You need to clean the machine. I mean, they do have intake air filters, but if if if your room and the machine itself is not kept clean, it can suck some of that debris in.
SPEAKER_02So, did I just understand you to say if the room is not kept clean where the air compressor is located? That's a really important detail. Sounds like a housekeeping detail.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, you wouldn't believe some of the places I've seen the air compressors be put at before. Uh you know, they they need to be kept at room temperature, you know, you need vents inside that room to keep the heat down and keep it warm, also. But uh yeah, I've I've seen them in a in an outside building attached with a dirt floor, even. So you've really got to use common sense when it comes to compressors and vacuums.
SPEAKER_02Well, those are two important pieces of equipment and very expensive pieces of equipment in dental practice. And so understanding how they work is really important. And I would say it even starts with leadership, Donnie, wouldn't you? The doctor needs to know a little bit about the device before he or she buys it, not just by on price alone.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yes, yeah, they've got several different factors to look at, you know, like uh um how many how many ops can that air compressor run? If you run too many ops, that air compressor it runs continuously, and they're not made to run continuously. An air compressor is supposed to run for so long and shut down, uh, especially with a dental air compressor, because what it's gonna do every time it shuts down, it's gonna blow air back through a filter, and that gives you your uh dry air instead of your moist air. So you really gotta stay on top of that, make sure that thing's running the way it should.
SPEAKER_02Well, Ty, you just remind me, reminded me of a point that we discussed during the peak of the pandemic, and that was the fact that that compressors are only meant to handle so many suction lines, you know, one or two HVE lines and and a few um saliva ejectors. But during the pandemic, we saw many more hygienists begin to use their HVE line and causing some taxing that piece of equipment to work overtime, I guess you would say.
SPEAKER_00Yes, those those vac vacuums are set up by how many users are being used. And and when when we say users, we're not talking about one person, we're talking about a user would be one HVE. An SVE is considered a half user. And say you're using nitrous and you've got it hooked to another HV, so right there's two and a half users, you know, right off the bat, just one operatory. And a lot of these vacuums are set up for you know three to four users, is a common one. So you've really, you know, your your vacuum really needs to be, you know, I don't know how you'd say it. Uh you really need to watch it more than you do your air compressor when it comes to users.
SPEAKER_02And I think that's that's an important point for our listeners to kind of lean in, especially those that are new to dentistry, is to understand what that means because when they're complaining that the vacuum is is not working very strong or just a problem with it, that could be part of the issue.
SPEAKER_00Yes, it's a big, big part from what I see. Uh a lot of times I go into these offices and you know, you should have a lot bigger vacuum unit than they do, but that's that's what they've been sold, and it's just not big enough.
SPEAKER_02No, totally understand. Thanks for bringing that to our attention, Donnie. Uh, thank you. Back to you, Olivia.
SPEAKER_01Donnie, that's interesting. I never thought about how you'd calculate users as it relates to taxing the suction unit. That's very interesting. I know Leslie's anxious to pick your brain as well. Uh, Leslie, what's on your mind?
SPEAKER_03Well, I just want to just recap what I've heard and um just kudos to you, Olivia, for saying compile an owner's manual on the equipment that you have. So instructions for use. And Donnie was telling us all about hand pieces. So boy, do I hear a lot of gripes about hand pieces that break down and and are uh malfunctioning? So the maintenance there is really important. And then um, I'm also excited to remind our listeners that some companies do have a product, like you mentioned with Midmark, that is recommended for use once a month. How many of us are checking with the manufacturers of our units, whether it's our sterilizer or or other units where there's um some kind of product that can be used to help keep it functioning better? Um Donnie, what other preventative items should we be looking at besides instructions for use and manufacturers and drug uh additional products that you could use? Is there anything else that we can do uh on uh either a monthly, weekly, or annual basis for equipment that you can help our listeners really lock into?
SPEAKER_00Well, uh, you know, we hit the the big three right there. That's that's your biggest ones. Um you know, of course, you've got your x-rays, your panels. Um, there's not there, I mean you you can go in and and have have those tested to make sure the KVPs are being put out right. Um but I I would say that's probably the biggest ones that you've really got to look at.
SPEAKER_03And then another question I have is um, could you could you give us off the top of your head like uh a calendar of things that people should be looking at? Like every week you should be doing this, every month you should be doing this, and at least once or twice a year doing that, and some of the equipment that we maintain to help uh help us uh make our own checklist.
SPEAKER_00Well, you know, that's where you go back to your operator manuals, and I'd probably shoot that back over to Olivia, let her kind of answer that question a little more.
SPEAKER_01And Donnie, I I remember working with uh a young dentist, uh female dentist, and she was setting up her practice, everything's brand new, ground up. And I was so impressed with her because she took every operator manual, every IFU, and created a calendar of tasks. And when I complimented her on it, she said she looked at me like, doesn't everybody do this? I paid a lot of money for all this stuff, and I want to make sure it lasts a long time. So she just basically took a highlighter pen and went to the instructions how to maintain it and then created a calendar for her staff. And I think that's critical, as you mentioned, Donnie, to extend the life of the equipment. And then, you know, if we relate back to hand pieces for just a minute, that they order all different kinds, and so it's a little challenging if the brands are different and there may be some little differences on how something is to be maintained, such as if you're using a mid-mark sterilizer and then a different brand. So that's why I always feel more comfortable in referring them back to their IFU, their instructions for use, and then maintain those uh logs. And it could be as simple as you know, retaining your invoice. If you bill a client, I'm sure you detail it out on an invoice what you did. And so if I was working with one of your clients, if it was a mutual client, I would recommend that they scan your invoice to uh equipment maintenance and make that a log so they could track, hey, when's the last time we had the sterilizer maintained and what did we have done? When's the last time we replaced a seal? And so forth. So it might be just a little bit more time involved, but when we look at extending the life of this valuable equipment, I think it would be well worth the costs. I really appreciate you joining us, Donnie. And I think before we close, the divas would have a couple of more questions. Uh, Leslie, back to you.
SPEAKER_03Well, it's more of a comment than a question. Um, you know, Donnie, I was at a dental office where they had brand new equipment uh just about a month ago, and um they asked their dental rep who sold them the equipment, or the dental rep that supplies them with their usual disposable supplies, about seven. And they were given misinformation, and they I redirected them to go back to the manufacturer and get the right information. Um Olivia's uh information about her one doctor creating a calendar of tasks is an awesome idea, along with the uh instructions for use. Um, do you have any any other thoughts for uh how sometimes demo offices are misguided and what you have to do to get them back on track? Because you see obviously the end result of somebody that did not take care of their equipment. What can you share with us to help us avoid any of those issues?
SPEAKER_00Well, um more or less just do your homework before you're buying your equipment. You know, you know, it's get online, look at that stuff, make sure you're getting the equipment that you need that's big enough for your office. Uh that that would be one of my biggest things. Uh you know, I would personally rather see you buying more equipment that's from the US. Uh, and for one reason I say that is a lot of the tubing and pieces that we have to have to repair for it will be more likely on hand if you buy US made products.
SPEAKER_03That is a great point. I didn't even think of that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and uh one other thing that you know a lot of doctors don't think about is buying used equipment compared to buying new equipment. Yes, you may have some problem with the used equipment, um, but you can also have the problems with new equipment, also. Uh personally, I like some of the older dental chairs than I do the newer ones. They just they put so much on these dental chairs, and there's so much that can go wrong. Go back to the basics, you know. You don't have to always have the best and newest.
SPEAKER_03That's uh my husband always says that whenever we buy an appliance, he says, the more bells and whistles there are, the more can go wrong.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you.
SPEAKER_00Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Linda, do you have a comment to add?
SPEAKER_02I want to say thank you for joining us. It's been very informative because there's so many basic things that you've reminded us of, just from the simple things like following the manufacturer's instructions for you, looking and doing some research before you buy a piece of equipment. And it dovetail nicely into Olivia's example of her client that created that entire check sheet based on the manufacturer's instructions for use. It makes perfect sense to protect your investment.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, Linda. So Donnie and I have known each other for several years. I teach a course at Murray State University for one of the local dental societies there. And Donnie has a booth set up and supportive the meeting. And I've always impressed because he'll have some dental equipment set up as well so people can see his work and also how he restores dental equipment. Some people may not have the budget for brand new equipment. So Donnie's doing a great job out in the field and servicing clients. We appreciate you, Donnie, taking time to share your insight and wisdom with our audiences. Donnie, this information has been so helpful. And I know that our compliance diva, Mary, wanted to be a part of this. And I believe we've covered all of the points that she wanted to share with our audience today. So thank you for joining us. As the Compliance Divas, we bring clarity and simplicity to compliance by navigating regulatory compliance to keep you on course. Please submit any questions to support at the compliance divas.com, and any resources can be found in the show notes. Thanks again, Donnie, and we'll see our audiences next week.