Dental Supplies

Dental equipment and materials can be bought from a specialist dental equipment supplier. Search the Yell.com directory to find a dental supplier near you. Most dental suppliers will require proof of your qualification and registration as a dentist before they sell to you. If you are looking for minor or amateur equipment, your dental surgery or dental technician may stock some essential items. There is a blossoming ‘black market’ trade for cheap dental equipment online but this is never recommended and equipment bought in this way is potentially very unsafe.

MediClub, the specialist financial service for dentists, advise that the dental equipment required to set up a practice will cost around £10,000, not including the costs included in sourcing premises, staffing and administration. Swallow Dental, a Yell.com-listed supplier, stock hand instruments from £36, specialist surgical instruments from £24.50 and impression trays from £31.75.

All non-disposable dental equipment should be thoroughly disinfected and sterilised between uses, and all disposable equipment should be disposed of in specific contamination waste collection bins. In the UK, most dental surgeries have autoclaves and sterilisers on-hand to clean their dental equipment, with steam sterilisers being one of the most popular types. The best practice for cleaning each piece of dental equipment varies depending on its shape, material and common usage, but it is expected that surgeries manually clean equipment between patients, as required. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, some dental surgeries have removed all disposable equipment from their practice and have introduced vigorous PPE and cleaning measures. There has never been a cleaner time to visit the dentist.

Some old dental equipment can be recycled when it reaches the end of its lifespan but some will need to be disposed of. Contact your local dental equipment suppliers to discuss your disposal requirements and they will be able to advise you on the best course of action.

There are hundreds of pieces of dental equipment required for a dental surgery. The essentials include a reclining chair, dental lights, dental mirrors, disinfection and sterilising equipment, an equipment cart, an X-ray machine, a hand piece, gloves and napkins, patient goggles, a scaling machine, suction pump, dentist stool and hand and surgical tools. A specialist dental equipment supplier will be able to advise you of a checklist for everything required in a new dental surgery.

The British Dentistry Industry Association (BDIA) is the accredited body for the UK dental industry. They hold a list of fully-approved dental equipment, and suppliers of dental equipment, for those in the industry to select from. It is never recommended that you purchase dental equipment from any provider that is not registered with the BDIA as their safety standards may not be up to the accepted standard, which could breach patient and staff safety as well as invalidate insurance.