Coverage for Technology and Equipment in the Dental Clinic

Dentists utilize their technology and equipment to help them treat their patients (Gruebele 2017). They could buy new and more advanced equipment in order to “set [them] apart and help [them] better diagnose and treat [their] patients” (Gruebele 2017). New technology could even provide procedures that dentists could not offer before (Gruebele 2017). Despite the high costs of equipment, it could benefit dentists in the long run because it could lead to more patients and income (Gruebele 2017). After a while, dentists must spend much money and time on maintenance specialists, who fix aging equipment so that they could “[run] at standard performance” (Gruebele 2017). They could replace them, especially “when the costs of continual repair outweigh the efficiency of replacing equipment” (Gonzalez 2017). To purchase new technology, dentists should “[set] aside 2% to 3% of annual earnings each year into a capital expense fund to cover any necessary and unexpected improvements” (Gonzalez 2017). In cases of broken equipment, dentists could get insurance coverage to help pay for them.
Dentists could receive this coverage for their technology and equipment from a variety of sources, but it comes with caveats. They could utilize equipment breakdown coverage from business policies in order to receive coverage for “expensive dental tools [e.g. dental vacuum systems, cabinet-mounted X-ray machines, computer imaging systems and more] if they malfunction. It may also help replace lost income and other expenses related to equipment breakdowns, according to the IRMI” (“Business Insurance Needs For Dentists’ Offices” 2014). They may have to pay deductibles and the coverage may have “a maximum payout limit…” (“Business Insurance Needs For Dentists’ Offices” 2014). Business insurance may also include business property coverage, which “can help pay to replace or repair [their] dental practice’s physical structure if it is damaged or destroyed by perils outlined in [their] policy. Property coverage also includes [their] office’s contents, such as furniture, computers, equipment, and supplies” (“Business Insurance Needs For Dentists’ Offices” 2014). The policy provides coverage in response to specific circumstances, such as “vandalism, fire, and hail storms…” (“Business Insurance Needs For Dentists’ Offices” 2014). Depending on the circumstances, insurance companies usually provide coverage after examining the broken equipment “to determine the cause of failure” (TDIC Risk Management Staff 2016). Regarding limits on coverage, Mike Terrell, “assistant vice president for Cincinnati Insurance,” states, “Dentists typically consider the investments they have made in upgrades and improvements when determining BPP [Business Personal Property] limits, including furniture, carpet, desks, instruments, chairs, operatory equipment, x-ray machines, cone beam radiography machines and CAD/CAM machines” (2015). However, while these limits remain relatively unchanged since the past, the replacement price for their equipment may be different in the present (Terrell 2015).
Due to the high costs of repairing or replacing broken equipment, dentists should utilize their coverage to alleviate these financial burdens. Dentists need their technology to provide certain services to their patients.

Works Cited

“Business Insurance Needs For Dentists’ Offices.” Allstate, June 2014.

https://www.allstate.com/tools-and-resources/business-insurance/dental-offices.aspx.

Gonzalez, Silvestre. “Know whether to repair or replace dental equipment.” DentistryiQ,

November 13, 2017. https://www.dentistryiq.com/articles/2017/11/know-whether-to-repair-or-replace-dental-equipment.html.

Gruebele, Keith W. “8 Questions to Consider Before Buying Equipment.” Dental Economics,

September 28, 2017. https://www.dentaleconomics.com/na/bankers-healthcare-group/8-questions-to-consider-before-buying-equipment.html.

TDIC Risk Management Staff. “How to handle equipment failure.” CDA, July 11, 2016.

https://www.cda.org/news-events/how-to-handle-equipment-failure.

Terrell, Mike. “Dentists: Consider cost of replacing equipment.” The Cincinnati Insurance

Companies, December 10, 2015. https://blog.cinfin.com/2015/12/10/dentists-equipment/.

Background on some Authors in Works Cited

Mike Terrell: https://blog.cinfin.com/author/mterrell/.