If you're a dentist running your own practice, you should consider wholesale dental supplies. Wholesale dental supplies can be a great way to save money and ensure that your practice has exactly what it needs for you to provide quality care to your patients.
The Challenge
Dental practices face many obstacles in running their businesses. From managing finances and staffing to ensuring patient satisfaction, sometimes things can feel a bit overwhelming. One big source of stress is making sure you have everything you need when you need it.
In your position, you have several choices for where to procure the right supplies. Trusting one source over another is not easy, so you have to weigh your options.
Where Can I Buy Dental Supplies?
When it comes to ensuring their inventory is at a ready level, dental office managers can hope to rely on one or two of the following sources.
With the major commercial brands, their scope of product is either extremely small and niched, such as in the case of many oral care companies, or far wider than just dental, such as in the case of medical supplies manufacturers.
Major dealers
The most common thing for dentists to do is to go with one of the major brands for their equipment and supplies because the presence these brands have in the industry is the highest, and so just by proxy, dentists will have heard about them. The main advantage of purchasing from a major dealer is having a dedicated representative to deal with any problems, relay deals, and provide advice on how to grow as a practice.
Some dentists prefer not to deal with these representatives, as they are either too busy to talk, or they just don’t like being called.
A couple of examples of these include Henry Schein and Patterson. These are the major ones, but there are plenty of others.
A lot of manufacturers like 3M and Colgate don't sell their products directly to the consumer, so that's why these distributors step in to curate and disseminate.
Major dealers are not generally manufacturers so their prices will fluctuate with their suppliers and the market. That’s why you won’t see prices on the website anywhere; you’ll have to call in and speak with a rep. Prices will also be a bit higher because of middleman costs.
When going with major suppliers, you’re buying from many different manufacturers at once, so the consistency you get in the items you get might be subject to some ups and downs.
Buying Groups
Another normal practice is subscribing to a dental buying group. These organizations get a number of offices together and buy in bulk. Besides gaining access to lower prices, these organizations can offer little else in the way of services.
In essence, these groups are another middleman to deal with, but can sometimes save you quite a bit of money. However, there may be a long-term contract involved, so dentists can find themselves stuck paying the membership fee to these groups, while other opportunities float by.
Dental Peers is a great example of this kind of organization.
Dental Support Organizations
This category also includes being part of the ever-popular ‘dental support organization’. These groups take all the autonomy away from the dentist, mandating how many procedures they do, and how their financials get taken care of. But in return, the dentist no longer has to worry about the practice itself, they just have to take care of their patients. This gives them peace of mind and a little breathing room to focus on work-life balance.
Heartland Dental is the largest example of this kind of company.
Goto COTISEN to know more.
Online suppliers
Websites that sell directly to dental offices are becoming increasingly popular. With online suppliers, there’s no need to deal with a representative, so some offices prefer it that way. Prices for the one or two major brands they carry are usually right on the website, so the dentist can compare between sites.
Customer service is usually either non-existent or poor, but sometimes the low prices make up for it. They are still subject to middleman costs, however, so even if the prices are good, they’re not the absolute best they can be.
Frontier Dental is a good example of this kind of website-only service.
Local stores
This is the least common method of attaining supplies.
Prices are the highest because there are many selling agents along the way, all taking their cut at every change of hand. Availability is sometimes not consistent for certain products, but the buyer gets to touch and feel the product before purchasing it.
This comes along with store staff providing in-person help, though, usually, these kinds of stores sell more than just dental supplies, so it’s difficult to be sure they’ll know exactly what they’re talking about. Not a lot of dental professionals go this route because it just doesn't make any sense in the long run.
Wholesale
There aren’t many manufacturers that sell directly to dentists, because most manufacturers have a product line that is either very specialized to one or two verticals, or they make s of products across several niche industries.
Many dental offices still only know to purchase their supplies from distributors, but buying directly from a manufacturer can offer several benefits:
By eliminating the middleman, dental offices can purchase supplies at a lower cost. Manufacturers often offer discounts and promotions that can help dental practices reduce their expenses, freeing up funds that can be invested in other areas of the business.
When dental offices purchase supplies directly from the manufacturer, they have access to the latest products, information, and technological advancements. This can help ensure that they are using the best and most up-to-date materials for their patients.
Dental offices can receive better customer support and technical assistance from manufacturers compared to distributors. They can also have a direct line of communication with the manufacturer in case of any issues or concerns, which can help resolve problems quickly and efficiently.
By buying directly from the manufacturer, dental offices can take advantage of better inventory management. They can monitor their supplies more closely, ensure they are well-stocked, and avoid running out of key materials at critical times.
Building a direct relationship with the manufacturer can lead to increased trust and collaboration. Dental offices can work together with the manufacturer to create customized solutions for their specific needs and challenges.
Buying supplies directly from a manufacturer can provide dental offices with cost controls, improved quality control, better support and service, increased inventory management, and strengthened relationships.
It’s a smart business decision that can help dental practices grow and succeed.
maxill is the only direct-from-manufacturer dental supplies business model on the market for oral care, disposables, and infection control.
Nobody else produces more infection control and disposable products for dental offices than maxill.
Above that, nobody offers the same wholesale pricing on dental supplies that maxill does, because nobody else actually produces their own products, they buy them from manufacturers like maxill.