While dental microscopes have been around for the past few decades, the technology has improved and dental microscopes now have much broader application beyond endodontic procedures.

We often get asked how a dental microscope can be utilized in a general practice. With over 25 years of experience in dental microscopy, we’ve found these are the top 5 most common uses for a dental microscope as well as their benefits to your practice.

1. General Dentistry
2. Endodontics
3. Restorative Dentistry
4. Documentation
5. Patient Education

Continue reading: The Top 5 Uses for a Dental Microscope

Depending on the brand and model, the average cost of a dental microscope can range anywhere from $13,000 – $70,000.

Like other technologies, there are entry-level microscope brands that have few premium options along with higher-end models with all of the bells and whistles. In our experience, a dental microscope with a nice mix of features and value is between $19,000 – $30,000 depending on your desired options.

Many manufacturers offer a wide variety of customizations and accessories that can greatly affect the price you will end up paying. And still, other brands have an “all or nothing” approach where you have to buy a fully loaded scope regardless of your current or future needs. Ultimately, you’ll have to decide what works best for you and your practice.

For more insight on this topic, including the considerations that impact cost, check out: How Much Does a Dental Microscope Cost?

Many of those familiar with our company know we take pride in the fact that our products are manufactured in the USA. “We Make It Easier” is what we like to say, and our location helps us accomplish this. For our customers, this means delivering a quality product with a lifetime guarantee in USA and Canada as well as providing superior customer and technical service.

When we started Global Surgical in 1994, we became the first company to focus on the newly emerging dental microscopy market. From the very start, our mission has been to promote the use of surgical microscopes in dentistry to advance the precision, vision and ergonomics possible for practitioners.

In order to make our mission a reality, we felt our corporate headquarters and all manufacturing and assembly would be best suited in the USA. So, we are and always have been located in St. Louis, Missouri. And, to date, we remain the only true US manufacturer of dental microscopes.

Being headquartered in St. Louis, we are able to reach our customers quickly and efficiently, whether domestically or internationally. Our goal has always been to provide the best value product in the marketplace through customization, modular/upgradeable designs, and our exclusive lifetime warranty in USA and Canada.

At Global Surgical, we are committed to your total satisfaction by providing the following with your purchase:

• 90-Day Money-back Guarantee: The microscope and microscope accessories you purchase will be unconditionally guaranteed and risk-free. You may return a product to Global in good condition for any reason within 90 days of invoice and receive a full product refund.*
• Microscope Limited Lifetime Warranty: Your microscope will include an unprecedented lifetime warranty (in USA and Canada), including parts and labor, for all optical and support components. We are the only microscope manufacturer offering a Limited Lifetime Warranty on your microscope.
• SMR Chair & Cabinet Warranty: SMR cabinets, chairs, and associated accessories include a one-year warranty from defects, which covers parts and labor.
• Knowledgeable Technical Service: When contacting our technical support department, you will be served by highly knowledgeable representatives in an efficient manner. If service is required at your location, a skilled technician will be dispatched within 24 hours.
• Upgradeable Features: We will continue to do our best to design our microscopes to be modular and upgradeable, thus greatly minimizing the possibility of obsolescence.

We invite you to explore our unbeatable warranty, terms and conditions.

*Custom microscope parts are excluded from this policy.

The dental operating microscope has become an essential tool for providing the highest quality of endodontic and restorative treatment. General dentistry practices are increasingly adopting surgical microscopes as well for their improvement in clinical precision, vision, illumination, and ergonomics as compared to loupes.

With many high-quality options available in the marketplace today, we recommend prioritizing these features to help you compare models most suitable for your practice.

• Optical Quality
• Illumination
• Design & Ergonomics
• Workflow Integration
• Imaging & Documentation
• Support & Warranty

We’ve expanded on what to look for when evaluating each feature above. Check out the full article: Top 5 Features to Consider when Choosing a Dental Microscope

To help make our microscopes accessible in nearly any operatory configuration, we have three mounting options for our A-Series dental microscopes.

1. Mobile Floorstand: Our mobile floorstand features large wheels for easy transportation of the microscope between operatories and a scratch-resistant base. This configuration is also available as Fixed Floor Mount.
2. Ceiling Mount: This mounting provides an optimal location for convenient delivery of the microscope. Ceiling mountings are available for 8 to 10 foot ceilings.
3. High or Low Wall Mount: This configuration folds compactly against the wall for easy storage (an extension arm is needed for optimal storage).

Continue reading the full article: How to Mount a Global Dental Microscope

Are you using images and videos to interact with your patients and staff? How about in presentations and/or teaching opportunities? If you answered yes, consider the capability of live recording with your dental microscope.

Across the globe, dental practices are incorporating images and videos to enhance the overall patient experience from diagnosis to treatment. When viewing live images, your patients can more clearly understand treatment recommendations. Live on-screen videos can also help your assistants during a procedure, as well as after, as a training tool.

Photo/Video Options for Dental Microscopes

Most dental microscope manufacturers offer an optional customization to allow your scope to record images and video. For viewing and archiving purposes, we recommend an image capture kit that includes:

• A full HD camera (1080p recommended)
• Live stream capability (can I stream to multiple monitors?)
• Compact, easy-to-install attachment (size matters!)
• Adapters for the most popular SLR cameras in either Full Frame or APS-C (flexibility and functionality)
• HDMI direct-to-monitor hookup (for simple plug-and-play connection)
• Intuitive software (can me and my staff easily keep patient records?)

How Can I Maximize My Investment?

Purchasing a camera and image capture kit for your dental microscope can be a great asset to your practice. Off the bat, you may be considering this purchase solely for guiding your staff through surgeries, or for viewing alongside patients. With our 25+ years of experience manufacturing dental microscopes and accessories, we’ve helped thousands of customers find ways to maximize their investment. 

Here are some ways we’ve heard our customers use an image capture kit to benefit their patients, staff and colleagues.

• Patient Education: For many patients, a real-life visual of their mouth helps them see what you see, which helps gain their acceptance.
• In-Surgery Livestream: With a live recording, your assistants can view actions firsthand on a monitor to anticipate movement without the need for verbal communication.
• Post-Treatment Training: Further improve the effectiveness of your staff by conducting post-treatment trainings based on live recordings.
• Online Documentation: Videos and stills make it easy to document cases in real time for insurance, publishing and patient education purposes.
• Conference Presentations: Bring your surgical learnings to a greater audience by helping educate other dental professionals.

Photo/Video Accessories for Global Microscopes

At Global Surgical, we’ve been long-time proponents for the use of surgical microscopes in dentistry. For us, this also means matching quality microscopes with the technology that helps advance the capabilities of your practice, which is why we created a simple solution for customizing your A-Series Global Microscope to achieve the best quality image and video capture.

This simple solution includes our Magewell Image Capture Kit, an integrated full HD 1080p camera which can be used for creating digital stills from a live video stream as well as recording live videos. We’ve made it easy to archive files from your microscope’s camera to a computer during an exam.

For more information on our camera accessories or Magewell Image Capture Kit, view our online brochure.

Our Global A-Series microscope provides over 115,000 Lux output. This is the brightest LED light source available, while producing unobstructed, coaxial, shadow-free illumination. It maintains a constant color temperature at a nearly ideal 5,500 Kelvin, and is capable of operating at a wide range of intensities. The Light Emitting Diode after which it is named, uses very little power which leads to a very long life. At approximately 50,000 service hours, the need to change your light source virtually disappears.

Continue reading: Dental Magnification & Illumination

As a dental professional, you’ve likely experienced the physical strain that’s inherent from a long day of caring for your patients. Being able to maintain a proper ergonomic position while caring for your patients can take quite a bit of strain off your body and improve your long-term health. Already popular among endodontists, with growing demand from general practitioners, dental microscopes fill a specialized role to provide enhanced magnification during a wide variety of dental procedures while also improving your comfort.

Continue reading: Improving Ergonomics with a Dental Microscope.

1. We recommend the use of a protective aspesis barrier bag on the microscope to prevent cross-contamination. Studies show a microscope barrier bag can prevent contamination of clinical contact surfaces, and is particularly effective for those areas of the scope that are difficult to clean.

2. Clean the optical surfaces in between each patient. f a lens surface is found to be contaminated, even during an exam, you’ll need clean it immediately. While wearing a face mask, use a clean and dry, soft bristled brush to remove all excess dust and abrasive particle residue before contact-cleaning any lens surface. Next, all exposed optical surfaces can be cleaned and disinfected using a clean microfiber cloth or lens tissue lightly moistened with 70% isopropyl alcohol. Never contact-clean a lens without first moistening the cloth or tissue with alcohol.

3. After each work day that you or your staff have used your scope, we recommend taking a final look after your last disinfection. While this process is required between patient exams or if surfaces have been contaminated since their last cleaning, it’s also a good idea to inspect your scope at the end of each day. 

Continue reading: 3 Dental Microscope Cleaning & Disinfecting Tips

1. Periodic Inspection – Take a close look at all of the microscope’s components and note any issues. If you see any part of the microscope that isn’t functioning correctly, contact our team as soon as possible to schedule service.

2. Installation & Service with a Certified Technician – Certified technicians are specifically trained to install your microscope based on our Installation Manual, as well as to troubleshoot any technical issues.

3. Use Barrier Bags & Sanitize Objective Lenses – We recommend the use of a protective barrier bag on the microscope to prevent cross contamination. Not only can barrier protection of surfaces and equipment prevent contamination of clinical contact surfaces, but is particularly effective for microscope components that aren’t as easy to clean. All exposed optical surfaces can be cleaned and disinfected using a clean microfiber cloth or lens tissue lightly moistened with 70% isopropyl alcohol.
4. End of Day Routine – After each work day that you or your staff have used your scope, we recommend a few steps to help properly “close down” for each day, both to extend the life of your scope and ensure you’re prepared to see patients the next day.

5. Proper Training with Staff & Assistants – If your staff and assistants will be prepping, cleaning or handling the scope, or even present in the office or exam room where the scope is installed, it’s important they are properly trained on how to handle the scope and its components. Continue reading: 5 Dental Microscope Preventative Maintenance Tips