The Importance of Comfortable and Functional Dentist Furniture
Spending an hour or more seated in an uncomfortable dental chair can be an unpleasant experience, especially for an older patient or a young child. It might even motivate them to allocate their future treatments to another practitioner. However, considering these healthcare professionals often need to be seated most of the day whilst treating consecutive patients, comfortable dentist furniture is not merely a nice-to-have option; it can be crucial to their long-term health and general well-being.
Furthermore, the need for comfort is not confined to the treatment room or applicable only to seating. It should be optimised throughout the entire facility and applied to all dental practice furniture to ensure the benefits are enjoyed by both practitioners and their patients. However, while the importance of comfort cannot be overstated, specialised furniture like a dentist chair must also be functional.
Today, most manufacturers of dental practice furniture are acutely aware of the importance of prioritising ergonomics when designing furniture for dentists.
How Comfortable Dentist Furniture Can Impact the Patient
While improved high-speed handpieces, more effective local anaesthetics and numerous other technological advances have vastly reduced the pain and discomfort that was once almost inevitable, many patients still retain their fear of dentists. An austere-looking reception area with hard seats and an equally unfriendly-looking dental reception desk will do little to dispel those fears, however unfounded.
By contrast, there are few better ways to relax and unwind than spending five or ten minutes seated on a plush sofa or chair. Hence, functional but comfortable seating should not be just an idea for some future date when the budget permits. Instead, treating comfort as an essential feature of any dentist’s waiting room can pay immediate dividends in the form of enhanced patient loyalty, positive online reviews and more referrals.
How Comfortable Dentist Furniture Benefits Practitioners
The high incidence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and repetitive strain injuries (RSI) among dental professionals might surprise the average patient, given that most are likely unaware of how strenuous their job can be. A poorly designed dental chair can force a dentist to maintain an awkward and potentially damaging position for long periods when treating a patient.
Even a dental cabinet positioned too low or too high can require a dentist to bend or stretch many times during the course of a day’s work. Repeatedly engaging in such awkward movements results in excessive strain on joints, muscles and other soft tissues.
Studies have shown that dentists are frequently subject to extreme discomfort in the neck region, lower back, wrists, and hands. Researchers conclude that more concern for the ergonomic aspects of dental practice furniture design could significantly reduce the incidence of MSD and RSI.
Sourcing High-Quality, Ergonomically-Designed Dentist Furniture
There can be little doubt that A-Dec and Belmont are the world leaders in designing and manufacturing ergonomically efficient dentist chairs. In addition, the cabinet-mounted and mobile delivery systems produced by the latter are also widely acclaimed. Therefore, dentists in the UK are doubly fortunate as Hague Dental Supplies is one of the few British companies to stock both of these world-class dentist furniture and equipment brands.
