Tips to maintain safe equipment

The ADA compiled a Dental Equipment Safety Checklist to help you and your staff review areas in the office that may need maintenance. The checklist is also important for patient and team member safety. The checklist provides information on how to safety-check items in your office ranging from a to x—amalgam traps to x-ray equipment more specifically.

Download Supporting Materials (Free for ADA members)
Dental Equipment Safety Checklist Most dental offices have equipment that is not regularly inspected and often there’s no expiration date on it. Therefore, it may go unnoticed until a failure occurs. Instead of going through breakdowns in practice that cost dollars and time - and may pose a safety risk - inspect and take action on needed items that may not be routinely checked during maintenance.

Equipment can be categorized by:

• X-Ray
• AED
• Amalgam recovery protocols
• Autoclave/Sterilization Equipment
• Dental Unit Water Lines
• Nitrous Oxide Equipment
• Patient Monitoring Equipment
• Emergency Oxygen Equipment

The list is provided as a reminder of the types of safety checks that should be undertaken semiannually in a typical dental practice office. Every office is different—this list should not be relied upon as an all-inclusive itinerary of safety checks for your office.