A piece of dental equipment that breaks down for three hours can result in more than $1,000 in lost income. Dentists may choose to acquire training for themselves, their employees, or hire contractors trained to repair dental equipment.
Employees working for dentists such as receptionists, administrative staff, and dental hygienists are excellent candidates for dental equipment repair training. Dental hand pieces (drills) break down quickly because of OSHA laws regarding sterilization, which creates the market for equipment repair. Certification can be lucrative. In the U.S., dental equipment repaire franchises are also available, for an investment of $45,000 to $63,000 as of 2010.
Curricula for dental equipment repair specialists may include coursework involving the repair of high-speed hand pieces, low-speed hand pieces and sonic air scalers. Some training programs also offer basic accounting and marketing training.