Most dental offices will need three different types of computers, a server, business workstations and clinical workstations. Each computer type will have different specifications depending on the job it must do.
Server: This is the main computer which stores all the data and distributes it to the other workstations. This machine should have a powerful processor, lots of memory and big dual hard drives for storage. It does not need any sound or multi-media capabilities. A server for most dental offices will cost from $3,000 to $3,500.
Business Workstations: These are the front desk stations. These will be the least powerful machines in the office. They have modest processing requirements, need virtually no hard drive storage and do not need sound or multi-media. A business workstation will cost $1,000 or less.
Clinical Workstations: These are the chairside computers and these will need to be much more powerful than the business machines. Chairside computers will be used for patient education, image management, digital radiography, cosmetic imaging, entertainment, intra-oral camera capture and much more. These machines need full multi media capability including sound, CD or DVD, powerful processors and lots of memory. A clinical workstation will cost from $1,800 to $2,200.
Some offices may need a fourth type, a consultation workstation. This would be used in a consultation room for case presentations. This machine would be similar to a clinical workstation with full multi media capacity and ideally should include a large impressive monitor. However a consultation workstation would not be used to capture images, radiographs and other data.
Three Computer Types for the Dental Office
October 29th, 2006 · 2 Comments
Tags: Hardware
2 responses so far ↓
1 Vu Le, DDS // Oct 30, 2006 at 11:19 am
Larry, these are all good guidelines, but I think those price points are a bit high. With Intel and AMD having a full out price war, we’re seeing very low prices on computers. I would consult dentists to determine needs, and then buy just a bit past that need, spending as little as possible for quality, reliable components.
My “clinical workstations” are Pentium 2.8c HT’s, and they are doing xrays, intraoral and uncompressed HDTV without a hitch and only 50% CPU usage peak. I would venture a guess that a lowly Core 2 Duo 6400 with a dual monitor graphics card and 1 gb of RAM would more than suffice–for about $1200 or less.
For a five+ chair office with all the bells and whistles, the argument for a $3000 server can be made. For a startup 2 chair office, you can get by with anything dual core, 2gb of RAM (1 would actually do), and a simple 2 drive RAID 1 setup, XP Pro for starters. That puts you well under $1500, if not under $1000. Once you get bigger, then you can upgrade to a new server, and use the old server as a workstation.
2 Larry Emmott // Nov 8, 2006 at 8:03 pm
These are all great comments and I agree. The prices I was suggesting are a bit on the high side. I was also considering monitors and inputs. I also like a RAID 1 set up for most offices.
XP Pro as the server software is OK up to about 5-8 workstations.
Larry Emmott
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