Instrument Strategy: Building a Smarter System for Selection, Management & Replacement

Instrumentation is more than an expense. It's an investment in clinical care, clinician comfort, efficiency, and patient outcomes.

In this practical session, Kathleen Bokrossy, RDH, BSc, explores a proactive approach to instrument management. From understanding instrumentation options and assessing your current inventory to building effective instrument cassettes and planning for future needs, you'll discover how to make informed decisions that support clinical success.

This session will help dental hygienists move beyond reactive instrument replacement and adopt a more intentional approach to instrument management. You'll learn how to assess your current instrumentation, identify priorities, develop a realistic replacement and upgrade plan, and approach conversations with practice decision-makers with greater confidence and supporting data.

The goal? To move beyond repeatedly asking for new instruments and establish an ongoing instrumentation budget and management plan that supports clinical needs.

Attendees will receive practical resources, including an Instrument Management Action Plan and Instrumentation Calculator, to help turn what they learn into action when they return to practice.

At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:
- Evaluate instrument design, materials, maintenance requirements, and ergonomics when selecting instrumentation.
- Assess current instrumentation and identify replacement, upgrade, and improvement opportunities.
- Design foundational and specialty instrument cassettes to support clinical efficiency and patient care.
- Develop a proactive instrumentation management, budgeting, and replacement strategy supported by practice data.