Until a few years ago, it was the norm in dental practices to equip operating rooms with the traditional “all-in-one” dental unit, which included a chair, water unit, instrument console, suction arm and light, all connected and combined.
Recently, however, there has been a significant change in trend that has resulted in ‘stand-alone’ chairs playing a prominent role in the choice of dental professionals worldwide.
This concept is already popular in the United States and has recently started to gain ground in the rest of the world due to its significant advantages in terms of use and versatility.
The main aspect linked to the growth of stand-alone chairs is undoubtedly hygiene, which plays a key strategic role, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The elimination of the water unit and spittoon in favour of smarter, more hygienic and patient-reassuring solutions that are easy to install and maintain is already an established practice in American-influenced markets, but more and more institutions, such as health ministries and professional associations, are encouraging this approach.
The free standing chair then becomes the central element of the operating room, around which the remaining accessories are placed independently: ceiling light, wall or mobile suction and side or garage distribution of instruments.
The new frontiers in dentistry are encouraging investment in STAND-ALONE chairs.
Stand-alone chairs are a rapidly growing trend worldwide for various applications that do not require the investment or immobilization of a complete dental unit, including: initial consultation, digital/prosthetic dentistry, hygiene, outpatient surgery and, last but not least, aesthetic medicine.
At a time when image plays an increasingly important role in our society, the field of aesthetic medicine is growing exponentially and is certainly closely related to dentistry.
In many countries, dentists are already authorized to perform full face treatments: in addition to smile aesthetics (whitening, direct and indirect aesthetic veneers, aligners, gingivoplasty, gingival laser), they have the possibility to perform non-invasive aesthetic medicine treatments such as fillers (hyaluronic and collagen), botox, revitalizations, laser treatments, non-surgical facelift with traction wires, “liquid rhinoplasty”, etc.
The challenge is to keep the dental unit, where necessary, dedicated to standard dental procedures only, so that it is not unnecessarily immobilized for all those treatments/services that are not purely relevant. The objective is therefore to create one or more separate multi-tasking workstations, from the initial consultation, intraoral scans, digital photography, hygiene and whitening to aesthetic medicine, essentially equipped with a stand-alone chair, an overhead light and a few other specific accessories.
Considering the high profitability of aesthetic dentistry, the investment required to equip these secondary rooms will be recouped in a short time.
In the same vein, there is also a significant trend towards freestanding chairs in outpatient dental surgery, especially in implantology. Here, too, the chair is the centerpiece of the operating room and must be highly technical and equipped with specific features. In this respect, the slow mode function, which allows ultra-slow motion for precise patient positioning, the anti-shock Trendelenburg position, the couch position, fire retardant, antistatic, antifungal and antibacterial upholstery, seamless high-density memory foam upholstery, rotating and adjustable surgical armrests, castors, stainless steel table, instrument side rails and stainless steel service table are particularly suitable.
Stand-alone chairs offer numerous advantages, both in terms of great versatility and ergonomics of use, impeccable style, ease of installation and maintenance, and reassuring effect on the patient, making them an investment with excellent profitability.
Tecnodent offers a wide range of stand-alone dental and medical chairs, both “chaise longue” and “knee-tilt” type, all completely symmetrical (therefore suitable for both right and left handed professionals) and able to satisfy the highest demands of professionals, following the latest market trends.
Do not hesitate to contact us for further information.
