Choosing dental lights for treatment rooms in your office is important. You want to ensure the right quality of light to effectively examine a patient, without creating a harsh environment that makes the patient uncomfortable. You also want to have lighting that's flexible enough to maneuver into different positions for optimal illumination. Here are some considerations when choosing the right lighting for your practice.
Ambient Versus Task Lighting
Most dentists think of task lighting first when thinking about operatory lighting. This is the light you use to complete an examination or a treatment, but also any desk lamps that illuminate writing areas. You will also need ambient lighting, however. This is the lighting that illuminates an entire space, such as a treatment room. You should have both types, and you need them to work together to create an environment ripe for working and also for keeping patients comfortable. If the two types of lighting aren't balanced, you and your employees may experience eye strain and headaches.
You also want to consider natural light from nearby windows and even skylights. This plays a part in your ambient lighting and will factor into your decisions about how you light a treatment room.
You might not need that fluorescent overhead lighting — what many offices choose — if you have a lot of natural light already. You may instead choose softer track lighting. Just realize all your different light sources work together, and consider choosing different types of light for each.
Task Lights
For the purposes of this article, let's assume you already have your ambient lighting picked out. You've consulted an interior designer and know what looks good and makes the room feel good. When choosing your task lighting, you want to think about brightness. Most ophthalmologists recommend an operating ambient light ratio of 10 to 1. This means if your ambient light has an intensity of 500 lumens, your task lighting should be around 5,000 lumens. Don't forget to count your desk lamps in your task lighting for administrative work.
Next, think about your space and how you work. If you have the space, cabinet and wall-mount lights are a good choice, simply because of flexibility. They can be moved out the way when not in use, and they can be well-positioned in relation to the chair to get the best view of your patient's mouth.
Ceiling-mount lights and track-mount lights can be set up a number of different ways and save the space that a large wall-mount light might take up. The moveable arms on these units also allow a wide range of positioning options. These lights are especially useful for oral surgery, because they can easily be angled for directional lighting. Many dentists appreciate dual ceiling-mounted lights like our StarTrol Galaxy 8X4 Dual Ceiling Mounted Light and our StarTrol Galaxy 4X4 Dual Ceiling Mounted Light. These provide optimal multi-directional lighting.
DuraPro Health offers affordable dental lights from well-known brands like Summit Dental, Flight, Boyd and Engle. Find your ideal light from our large selection of high-quality options.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us anytime!
Picking The Right Dental Light