When it comes to dental equipment, preventative maintenance is a must. Equipment must be properly cared for to keep instruments working at peak performance for as long as possible, but also you—as the health care provider—and your patient must be kept safe from infection. Through preventative maintenance tasks daily, weekly, monthly and annually, your dental practice lessens the chances of unexpected equipment failures resulting in downtime, as well as more importantly, safety concerns.
As you know, managing a dental office and the necessary dental equipment maintenance tasks is often overwhelming. Our goal here is to simplify things in a short three-part blog series covering dental equipment preventative maintenance specific to sterilization, operatory, medical gas and IT tasks.
Part of opening the practice includes powering on all computers and network equipment, verifying data backup logs and verifying antivirus programs.
Image of Dr. John Dorsch"s (Liberty, MO) front office. Image by Dawn Boomsma
And finally: Medical Gas and IT Tasks.
Does your process have a well-outlined document outlining all maintenance tasks for medical gas and IT systems? With patients coming and going and the business of the day, it is important that these are clearly visible and imperative they are performed well to keep systems running smoothly. Review these tasks with your team often, and make sure to revise them as necessary. In doing so, you will find they become second nature.
DAILY TASKS:
Morning
- Turn main water on
- Power on air and vacuum, note any error codes/messages
- Power on all computers and network equipment
- Verify data backup logs to ensure successful backups
- Verify antivirus is running and not threats are detected
- Power on all peripheral devices & equipment including printers, x-rays, scanners, cameras, mills, sterilization equipment, delivery units
- Open imaging and practice management software and run updates, if applicable
End of Day
- Flush vacuum lines with vacuum system cleaning solution
- Properly disconnect, charge, & store small equipment items, ensure x-ray equipment and servers are securely locked away from unauthorized access
- Run data backup procedures and install software updates
- Power down air and vacuum systems
- Turn main water off
WEEKLY TASKS:
Mechanical Room
- Clean or replace vacuum canister
- Check oil levels, if applicable
- Check moisture indicator on air compressor
- Check fittings for any leaks
MONTHLY TASKS:
Computer Network
- Shutdown or restart data server(s)
Medical Gas Room
- Inspect tanks and hoses for leaks*
- Ensure manifold pressure is at 50 PSI*
- Test manifold alarm system*
- Ensure tank restraints are intact
- Test zone valve, if applicable*
Mechanical Room
- Check amalgam separator collection container level and replace canister when fill line is reached (properly recycle according to federal guidelines)
ANNUAL TASKS:
Mechanical Room
- Perform preventative maintenance on vacuum and compressor according to manufacturer recommendations*
- Replace main water filter, if applicable
Computer Network
- Clean/blow out dust from internal CPU cases and ensure adequate airflow on all sides
- Review/modify data backup configuration*
- Review/modify antivirus configuration*
*May require qualified service technician
We Can Help!
Even with preventative maintenance, dental equipment and technology malfunctions. And, it usually happens at the most inconvenient time. Just a few hours of lost productivity can cost you thousands in lost production.
Goetze Dental’s Service Team is committed to providing the solutions you need to keep your equipment & technology functioning. Call 800-692-0804 and choose option 5 to schedule an appointment or click here to request service call online.