Before the pandemic, dental suction was primarily used to clear secretions, provide emergency treatment, and maintain a clean and accessible surgical field. However, COVID-19 offered a crash course in why every dentist needs to have quality, modern suction readily available for every patient, every time.
Quality suction reduces the aerosolization of contagious particles. This helps to slow the spread of COVID-19, which can encourage patients to seek necessary dental care and potentially even save lives. Now is the time to upgrade your traditional dental suction tools. Here is what you need to know about quality, modern suction.
Why Dental Suction Is Important
Dental suction plays an integral role in all dental practices, whether it be a small family provider or a major oral surgery practice. Suction is necessary for patients who experience unusual bleeding, aspiration, or other surgical complications. Suction also plays a role in everyday procedures and can help maintain a sterile surgical field. Patients concerned about COVID-19 may be reassured by more aggressive suctioning that minimizes the creation of aerosolized particles.
Characteristics of Quality Dental Suction
Easy to Use
Ease of use is critical to proper use. It doesn’t matter how effective a machine is—if it is not easy for your team to use it correctly, it is essentially worthless. Some hallmarks of an easy-to-use machine include:
- Compatibility: Works with the attachments you already have.
- Usability: Easy for anyone to put together, disassemble, and clean.
- Adaptability: Fits into the way your team already suctions patients.
- Reliability: Any machine that requires frequent troubleshooting poses a threat to your patients.
Effective and Testable
It seems obvious that a suction machine should deliver consistent suction, but many practices still use machines that do not work well. Your machine must deliver consistent, reliable suction each and every time, or else it has no value to your practice. You can test your machine with our free kit to ensure that it is ready to go every time you need it.
Portable
Traditional wall-mounted suction might be an option for dental practices with a single operating or exam room, but these practices are mostly nonexistent now. You must be able to immediately suction every patient in your practice without moving them to another location.
Because moving patients around the office can potentially increase the spread of COVID-19, practices have been doing it less. However, even after COVID-19 subsides, needless transport will delay care and waste resources. Portable emergency suction allows you to tend to patients wherever they need it—in the operating room, in the exam chair, or even waiting in the office. It also allows you to have suction ready for multiple patients, and saves money over wall-mounted suction.
Is It Time to Upgrade Your Machine?
Traditional dental suction tools often fail to rise to the occasion, especially if you are suctioning more patients than ever thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some signs that it may be time to replace or upgrade your machine:
- Your machine does not deliver consistent suction power.
- Your machine does not maintain a charge, or quickly loses power during the day.
- Your machine is not compatible with most of the attachments you have.
- You only have one machine, but you have many providers simultaneously treating multiple patients.
- Your current machine requires highly specific attachments that are difficult to access, complicated to use, or very expensive.
- Your machine shows signs of breaking, cracking, or general wear and tear that may permit the entrance of contaminants.
- Your machine is having electrical problems.
- Your team frequently complains that the machine is difficult to use or loses suction.
For help choosing the right suction device for your dental practice, download our free guide, The Ultimate Guide to Purchasing a Portable Emergency Suction Device.
