Printers

Your printing and printer requirements are likely to be based on your space availability, your needs for speed and quality and whether the printer is to be used in the front or back office. With so many printers available, we will ensure that we specify the exact machine to suit your needs.

Normally, dental practices require at least one printer on the reception desk. You may also want a printer in the back office area (if you have one), and some practices like to do some printing in surgery - for example for perio charts, or graphical estimates. We always recommend laser printers for business use. They tend to print faster than inkjet printers, are designed for heavy duty use, and the resulting prints are crisper, and do not smudge when touched. Although they can initially be more expensive, the cost per print over time is usually cheaper with laser, and you do not have to change the cartridges/toner as often. Inkjet still has the edge for printing photographic images onto glossy paper, and where that is necessary, for example if printing radiographs, an inkjet printer can be deployed alongside a laser printer, for occasional use.

We always recommend deploying network capable printers where possible. Although most directly connected USB printers can be “shared” from the computer they are connected to, it is better for performance and reliability if the printer stands alone on the network.

For printing reminders and receipts, you can also consider the use of a label printer. The label can then be stuck to the back of a business card, or into the patient’s diary. This also prevents errors which can occur when reminders are hand-written.

Scanners

Sophisticated scanning solutions are becoming increasingly popular in the modern dental practice. Scanning your paper-based documents will enable you to save on storage space, time and money and ensure your document management, access and information sharing is significantly more efficient. From flat-bed scanners to high speed document scanners, Dental IT can advise on the right solution for you – dependent on the needs and objectives of your practice.