A relationship built on trust; the key to finding the right dental equipment manufacturer
Dr Patrick Rea, Dental Principal at Sandown Dental & Implant Clinic, talks us through the qualities you should look for in your dental equipment manufacturer and why it’s so important to find the right one if you want to provide the best treatment to your patients.
Choosing the right dental equipment for your practice is one of the biggest challenges faced by dental practitioners, especially in today’s world of numerous choices and fast-paced technological advances. Finding a manufacturer that combines high-quality, clinically-proven products with excellent customer service and support is therefore absolutely crucial to providing the best quality treatment to your patients – and the manufacturer that ticks all the boxes for me is NSK.
High-quality, precision instruments
NSK are renowned for their strong engineering credentials and have a proven track record in producing high-quality, precision instruments for all areas of dentistry. They have built a solid reputation on this and it’s something that gives me enormous peace of mind when investing in the equipment I need for my treatment room, particularly in the field of implant surgery where reliability is paramount. They pride themselves on skilled craftsmanship, high-quality components and rigorous testing processes which combine to create precision instruments.
A prime example of this is the NSK Ti-Max Z900L handpiece which I have bought for my practice. It is an extremely high-quality handpiece that has a light, balanced and ergonomic feel and delivers precise and powerful performance every time.
I have also been extremely impressed with the SurgicPro surgical system which gives me the sturdiness, quality and reliability I need for implant surgery, and I think the facility to link it with the VarioSurg and control them both with one foot pedal is absolutely ingenious. It’s clear that NSK have dentists front-of-mind during the development of their instruments and that they listen to practitioner feedback.
Another example of this is the development of the 45°contra-angle handpieces which was inspired by a practitioner who wanted the power and speed-increasing capabilities of the latest straight handpieces as well as an angled head to work on hard-to-reach molars. After much research and development, NSK launched the first 45°contra-angle handpiece, the Ti-Max Z45L, and it went on to win Gold at the 2015 Edison Awards, an international award recognising excellence in new product and service development. It’s therefore perhaps not a surprise that my next purchase will be an NSK contra-angle handpiece.
Clinically proven
NSK’s product reliability is also due to their emphasis on the clinical research which goes into all their product development. Their commitment to this has recently been evidenced by the opening of a brand new research and development centre at their head office in Tokyo, where they will continue to develop innovative products in state-of-the-art facilities. NSK knows that dentists need to see the evidence behind the innovations before they can confidently buy into them and that high-quality dentistry is based on high-quality evidence-based research.
A face you can trust
Another crucial part of the purchasing process, in my opinion, is having a trustful relationship with a dedicated representative from the company into which you are investing so much of your money. I think it is extremely important to have a face-to-face contact who is knowledgeable about all the products on offer, understands your business and cares about obtaining the right products for you.
Jonathan Singh, Product Specialist/Technical Services & Support Engineer Northern Ireland & Rep. of Ireland for NSK, has been extremely helpful in giving me advice and information about the range of products that NSK offers and he can answer all my questions. He provides a personalised service and bends over backwards to help us out. This means that whenever I have a question, Jonathan is my first port of call and that must in the end be good for his business too.
NSK’s equipment will last a long time as long as you carry out the recommended cleaning and maintenance procedures. However, there is also the added peace of mind that they have an in-house team of service engineers who are factory-trained to service and repair NSK equipment.
Tried and tested by NSK… and me
And last, but by no means least, in order to make an informed decision about these precision pieces of equipment, NSK will let you trial them for 10 days first. This was incredibly useful when I was thinking about purchasing a Z900L as I could try it out in my own clinical environment in a number of different procedures to determine whether it was the right handpiece for me. It turned out to be and I have now purchased a few for the practice. Trialling is so much better than simply going on a recommendation from a rep without having the chance to try it at all, or picking it up at an exhibition stand and practising on a plastic tooth. The two experiences cannot be compared.
It’s all about trust
People often say that dentistry is all about trust. A patient needs to have trust that their dentist will look after their teeth and provide excellent treatment; in turn, the dentist needs to have trust that their equipment will give the precision and performance required for the job. A good manufacturer will repay that trust with exceptional products and excellent customer service.
For more information on NSK’s ‘Try before you buy’ scheme or for more information about their products contact Jonathan on +44746 4675158 or +3531 6950053 or email jsingh@nsk-uk.com. Alternatively call NSK on ROI 1800 848959 or NI 0800 6341909 or contact your preferred dental dealer.
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