The heart of your Dental practice. Dental compressors from Dürr Dental

A dental compressor supplies dry, oil-free, hygienic compressed air to the dental practice. It is required when using dental equipment such as straight and contra-angle hand pieces, powder jet devices, CAD CAM devices and treatment units.

Key elements are compressing, reprocessing and storing air. The dental compressor should also have the following three characteristics:
Oil-free: Because special materials are used for the pistons and cylinders, there is no need for conventional oil lubrication during the compression process.
Dry: Membrane drying units ensure uninterrupted availability of the dental compressor and provide dry compressed air even during continuous operation of your dental practice.
Hygienic: Three-stage filtration ensures optimal hygiene. Our bacteria filter in particular generates hygienic and clean compressed air.

A compressor for dental practices should combine a duty cycle of 100% with a long service life. It should be as low-maintenance as possible and ideally be connected to a monitoring system (e.g. with the aid of VistaSoft Monitor). This is responsible for maintenance reminders and keeps an eye on the current operating status. Redundancy in the form of additional units or devices that can be additionally switched on as required in Main/Aux mode should also be provided. The level of noise generated by a compressor is another important factor – units with soundproofing or the compact and quiet Power Tower View are recommended here.

• Current and future air demand of the dental practice
• Selection of a suitable installation location (e.g. space requirements, noise levels, ventilation etc.)
• Dental compressed air quality in accordance with ISO 22052
• Class IIa certified medical device in accordance with MDR (EU 2017/745)

Good to know: one clear advantage of the Tandem compressors is the option for modular upgrades and expansion, which makes them a flexible solution with options for more power. The concept of our Power Tower View is also modular and therefore offers easy options for upgrades and modifications.

Installations are highly individual, as the demand for compressed air depends on many factors. The following criteria should be looked at in more detail:
 

• Number of treatment units and therapists working at the same time
• Other compressed air consumers (e.g CAD CAM and hygiene systems)
• Redundancy and scalability
• Max. output in l/min at 5 bar
• Max. pressure in bar
• Structural conditions – dimensions, installation locations

The following aspects should be taken into account:
 

• Where is a suitable room for installation?
• Is ventilation provided in the installation room?
• Is soundproofing/noise protection required?
• Does the pipe system have the required dimensions?
• Oil-free – or oil-driven/lubricated?

Oil-lubricated dental compressors have the following disadvantages: 
 

• The oil separator requires servicing and maintenance, and if it fails oil will get into the line.
• Compressed air that contains oil can affect treatment outcomes, e.g. by weakening the bonding of restorations, damaging blanks (CAD CAM), or even causing damage to downstream equipment in the dental practice.
   

For these reasons, oil-free compressed air is regarded as the standard for dental compressed air, and the corresponding requirements are defined in ISO 22052. DÜRR DENTAL compressors satisfy the requirements set out in the new ISO standard with regard to dental quality air. Because special materials are used for the pistons and cylinders, there is no need for conventional oil lubrication during the compression process.

No – the compressed air used in dental applications is used to e.g. power devices or instruments, or to dry the treatment site. This air can be rapidly removed with the air of dental suction systems. In addition, the ambient air in dental treatment rooms is not sterile, so the dental air itself is not required to be sterile. The quality requirements for dental compressed air are defined in ISO 22052. You can find out more about dental compressed air in our News block.

Dental compressor: in particular, the dental air needs to be hygienic and should meet the requirements in terms of air quality that are set out in ISO 22052. Your compressor should be certified as a class II a medical device. This requirement is met by our DÜRR DENTAL compressors. When choosing a compressor, it is also important to take into account how many therapists will be using the compressed air at the same time and what type of other consumers will need to be supplied.

Laboratory compressor: when choosing the correct laboratory compressor, it is important to consider the minimum pressure requirements and the maximum amount of air that will be taken out, e.g. at workplaces, by CAD CAM devices, or for the cleaning processes of the laboratory extraction system. Use in a dental laboratory requires a duty cycle of 100%. This is why the membrane drying unit ensures a continuous supply of dry compressed air even in continuous operation.

As a general rule, the air pressure should be set as high as necessary but as low as possible in order to save energy and protect the compressor. As a rule of thumb, the input pressure of the connected devices is the key factor here. A buffer of 0.5 bar is added to the highest value. This yields the switch-on pressure of the compressor. The cut off pressure should be 2 bar above the switch-on pressure.

The filter in the compressors should be changed 1x per year, as it ensures consistent performance and helps preserve the value of your compressed air system. For further information, please refer to the installation and operating instructions. In contrast to conventional adsorption dryers, it is not necessary to change the drying agent in membrane drying units.

Avoidable sources of faults include e.g.
 

• mistakes in the selection of the correct compressor, i.e. failure to take into account the air consumption of current and future consumers.
• Errors during installation, e.g. incorrect dimensioning of the compressed air network or inadequate ventilation of the installation site.
• Errors during operation, e.g. failure to replace the filter at the required interval, or wear due to leakages in the compressed air network.

Compressors from DÜRR DENTAL can be purchased from specialist dental suppliers.

Your specialist dental supplier will be able to provide you with a price list.

This is really easy to do with our Tandem compressors – either by retrofitting a second unit or by combining two Tandem compressors together in Main/Aux mode.

In these cases your compressor can be retrofitted with noise reduction. Alternatively, we also offer our Power Tower View – a combined unit that brings together suction, compressed air and amalgam separation in a compact unit with a tiny footprint.

In this case we recommend the extra quiet Power Tower View. It was designed primarily for small footprints on the surgery floor. Thanks to the many individual configuration options, Power Tower View is a flexible solution that will grow with the surgery and adapt effortlessly to new circumstances.

ISO 22052 specifies requirements for the quality of dental compressed air to ensure the safety and effectiveness of dental equipment. It is applicable in dental practices and clinical facilities where compressed air is used for dental equipment. Our Silver Airline and Tornado compressors supply air quality in the classes 2:4:0, so they even surpass the air quality requirements set out in ISO 22052.

Dental compressed air is defined in ISO 22052 whereas medical compressed air is defined in the European Pharmacopoeia and other standards. The main difference is the water content, which is more strictly defined for medical compressed air. However, this regulation refers to the provision of air in compressed air cylinders and not to the production of compressed air on site (compressor). A dew point of -22°C applies to medical compressed air, while the ISO standard specifies -21°C – so the values are comparable. Medical compressed air defines individual gaseous components that must be taken into account when ventilating patients; these are irrelevant for dental applications.

Manufacturers of CAD CAM systems have clearly defined requirements for the quality of the connected compressed air supply with regard to particles, oil and water content. Moist compressed air can cause damage to the CAD CAM system. Oil can also impair the quality of the milling result. Thanks to our membrane drying unit, the bacteria filter and the use of special materials, DÜRR DENTAL compressors generate dry and oil-free compressed air that even surpasses the requirements of ISO 22052 (classes 2:4:0 in accordance with ISO 8573-1) and thus provide an optimised supply for your dental CAD CAM systems.

Dental compressors are used for therapeutical purposes, for example for the preservation or restoration of teeth. They are active medical devices, and based on this intended purpose they are required to meet the conditions for classification as a class IIa product as set out in the Medical Device Regulation (MDR) (EU 2017/745).

• Protects against sensitive dental instruments and devices, e.g. CAD CAM systems, turbines
• Ensures the quality of dental treatments, e.g. when placing a composite filling
• Prevents high levels of moisture in the dental air, corrosion in the compressed air system and growth of microorganisms
• Satisfies the requirements of CAD CAM manufacturers with regard to air quality in accordance with ISO 8573-1 [2:4:0]