Tag Archives: energy

Dental Compressor

The Costs of Compressed Air Energy

The operation of an air system requires more than just an ability to turn the right switches. One of the most important aspects of the whole operation is the maintenance of the compressor and various other components, because this ensures long life and efficiency for an air system.

One of the biggest compressed air maintenance mistakes is to underestimate or miscalculate the amount of energy that a compressor will use within the span of a year. Fact is, the price to operate a dental air compressor can equal or exceed the purchasing cost of the machine in the space of just 12 months. Most problematic in this regard is the wasteful usage of a compressed air system, which often occurs when operators are unaware of the overall energy costs.

On average, an industrial air compressor will retail in the ballpark of $30,000 to $50,000. When you multiply the operating costs per hour by the number of usage hours per day across 12 months, the cost of operating the machine during the first year alone could well exceed the initial price, and that doesn’t even count any possible maintenance costs.

A reliable way to estimate annual energy costs is to take the compressor’s horsepower and multiply that by .746, then multiply that by the number of usage hours, then multiply that by the power rate, and finally divide the total by the motor efficiency.

To best assure efficiency, it’s important to accurately calculate the annual energy costs of an air compressor, and to make sure that all operating staff understand how the figure plays out on a daily basis. That way, wasteful system use can be curbed going forward.

Even though the compressor is the main component of concern within an air system, it’s not the only one in need of routine maintenance. Of equal importance during any maintenance inspection are the other components that facilitate the air supply. Chief among such components is the air receiver, which holds compressed air for times when air demands increase, and also reduces system wear and contamination.

The air receiver makes it possible to run the compressor at lower levels and conserve energy in the process. However, the air receiver won’t be able to do its job properly if it’s too small for the system, because the compressor will have to run longer than necessary to keep up with air demand. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that the air receiver is either large enough for the system, or backed with secondary receivers.

dental equipment

The Importance of Dental Curing Lights

A light-curing device is now commonly found in dental practices across the country. Some assume that a “point and shoot” technique is sufficient. However, in order to achieve optimal results, dental curing lights must be used correctly. Read on to find out more about how to use a dental curing light so that the resin-based restorations you place in patients’ mouths will be as successful as manufacturers’ claims.

Recently, a new concept to dentistry, the LED, has entered the market. There have been significant sales promotions from the several companies selling LED lights. As a result of the promotions, dentists appear to be more confused than before.

How a dentist uses a light-curing unit makes a large difference in the amount of energy a restoration receives. Even when the device is handled correctly, if the energy level is insufficient, then the resulting restoration may not attain expected longevity; this may explain why resin-based restorations last only five to seven years when actual life expectancy should be 15 years or more.

In a collection of articles written for ADA Professional Product Review, Jack L. Ferracane, Professor and Chair, Restorative Dentistry Division Director, Biomaterials and Biomechanics, Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon states that there is “considerable evidence that delivering inadequate energy to the restoration will result in a restoration that has less than optimal properties and poor clinical performance.”

Ferracane goes on to say that light-cured resin-based composite restorations most often need replacing because of secondary caries and restoration fracture. Other reasons include staining, marginal breakdown, wear, a broken tooth or nerve death. Inadequate delivery of light or energy to the restoration can result in the early breakdown of a light-cured restoration. Therefore, a dental curing light must deliver adequate light energy to attain the best physical, chemical, and optical properties of a resin-based composite restoration.

Some of the current high powered lights are recommended to cure a material within one second. These lights put out a tremendous power (4000 mW/cm2) compared to typical lights that emit either 600 or 1200 mW/cm2 and are recommended to cure a material within 20 seconds. The big difference between these high powered units and the typical units is that the material is forced to set all at once with no heat dissipation during the curing time. This amount of heat build up is sufficient to cause skin burns and tissue damage.