Dentsply Sirona and Beyond: A Procurement Manager's 7-Step Medical Equipment Buying Checklist

If you've ever approved a six-figure equipment buy and then watched the ancillary costs pile up for the next two years, you know the real price of a device isn't the invoice total. I'm a procurement manager at a 14-person dental and medical practice. I've managed our equipment budget of about $230,000 a year for seven years, negotiated with 50+ vendors, and documented every order in our cost tracking system. This checklist is the process I use for everything from a Dentsply Sirona digital workstation to a portable ultrasound.

From the outside, a quoted price looks like the price. The reality is that the second, third, and fourth invoices are what separate a good buy from a bad one. Work through these seven steps in order. It takes about 90 minutes the first time. Faster after that.

Step 1: Write down the clinical need before you look at any product

The biggest mistake is starting with a product demo and working backward. When a rep shows you a machine, every feature feels essential. It's not.

Before you talk to vendors, write down the exact procedures you'll use the device for, the patient volume, the room constraints, and the staff who will actually operate it. Then ask each vendor to quote against that scope, not the full brochure.

For example, when we were evaluating a Dentsply Sirona imaging system, I started on their product site (dentsply-sirona.com) and then asked for a quote. The first quote included software modules we didn't need. I asked them to re-quote against our exact workflow and we dropped about 18% of the cost. The feature set was still enough. Actually, it was exactly what we needed.

Step 2: Build a total cost of ownership (TCO) spreadsheet

Trust me on this one: the unit price is not the price. TCO (i.e., not just the unit price but all associated costs) is what matters. If you don't have a spreadsheet template, build one. Basically, a spreadsheet with rows for every cost category. It doesn't need to be pretty.

Line items to include:

• Base price
• Delivery and installation
• Training and staff time
• Consumables and recurring supplies
• Maintenance contract
• Software licenses and upgrades
• Financing interest
• Downtime during installation
• Expected resale or disposal cost

A recurring supply like MC Care liquid by Dentsply Sirona (a maintenance fluid used with certain dental equipment) never shows up on the equipment quote. Neither do replacement probes for a portable ultrasound. But they're annual costs, and they multiply by the number of units and years you'll keep the device.

Step 3: Check the vendor's financial health before signing

If a vendor goes out of business or kills a product line, your device becomes an expensive paperweight. For public companies, you can check this yourself.

I spent an hour reading Dentsply Sirona SEC filings in 2024 before a recent equipment decision. I wasn't trying to forecast stock performance. I wanted to see their debt levels, R&D investment, and any notes about product discontinuations. You can pull the same documents from sec.gov/edgar for any publicly traded manufacturer. If the company is private, ask for financial statements or references from long-term customers.

Why does this matter? Because a vendor's stability affects your service contract, software updates, and parts availability. The most impressive device is worthless if the company behind it disappears.

Step 4: Ask "what's NOT included" before asking the price

Honestly, this is the question that saves the most money. One vendor quoted a great price for an operating table. Then we learned the quote excluded the patient positioning pads and the handheld remote. Those two items added $1,400 (unfortunately).

I've learned to ask it in every negotiation. "What's not included in this quote?" If the sales rep hesitates, that's a sign. Get everything in writing.

I have mixed feelings about this step. On one hand, it feels confrontational. On the other hand, I've been burned by hidden fees twice, and once is enough. So now I ask it with a smile. The vendor who lists all fees upfront—even if the total looks higher—usually costs less in the end.

Step 5: Verify service, support, and regulatory claims

Service contracts are where a lot of "good deals" go to die. You need specifics:

• Response time for repairs
• Loaner equipment policy
• Replacement parts pricing
• Software update schedule
• Does the contract renew automatically?

We didn't have a formal process for service contract renewals at first. In 2023, one auto-renewed at 30% higher while we were busy with a new clinic build. I now put every renewal date in our cost tracking system with a 60-day reminder.

Also, verify any clinical or performance claim yourself. Per FTC guidelines (ftc.gov), claims have to be truthful, not misleading, and substantiated with evidence. So ask for the FDA clearance letter or 510(k) number for any medical device. If a sales rep says "the lowest failure rate in the industry," ask for the data. If they can't produce it, write that down.

Step 6: Plan for the end of the device's life

This is the step most people skip. What happens at year five? Is the software still supported? Are the disposables still available? Can you resell it, or will you have to pay for disposal?

This applies to bigger-ticket medical items too. I don't have clinical expertise in implantables like a vagus nerve stimulator, but procurement-wise the same logic applies: ask about generator battery life, programming equipment, and replacement costs before committing to a platform. "We'll handle it later" is not a strategy.

Not ideal, but workable? Maybe. But "not ideal" becomes expensive fast when a device has a built-in obsolescence date. So ask the vendor for the product lifecycle plan in writing.

Step 7: Negotiate the whole package, not the unit price

Vendors have room to move on training, extended warranties, and consumables even when the hardware price is fixed. Use it.

For our last dental unit purchase, I asked for two things: 18 months of maintenance parts and a training session for all four hygienists. The sales rep said no on the hardware discount but yes to both. That was worth about $4,200 in real costs.

A quick note: don't default to the cheapest quote. The cheap option resulted in a $1,200 redo for us once when quality failed. The cheapest total-cost quote is what you want.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Starting with features instead of patient volume. You're buying a tool, not a tech demo.
• Ignoring recurring consumables. MC Care liquid by Dentsply Sirona and probe replacements look small on paper. Over seven years, they're not.
• Skipping the vendor stability check. A public company's SEC filings are free to read. So is a private company's credit history, if you ask for it.
• Trusting verbal claims. Get the regulatory documentation and service terms in writing.
• Not checking auto-renewals. Put every service contract date in your calendar. There is no excuse for an auto-renewal surprise.

Dodged a bullet in 2024 when I double-checked probe replacement prices before signing a portable ultrasound order. I was one click away from approving the quote without the warranty extension. A second quote with extended probe coverage arrived just in time. The probe replacements alone would have covered the cost.

The goal isn't to find the cheapest vendor. It's to find the one whose total cost is clear, justified, and under your control. That's it. Simple. Use this checklist before your next buy, and I'd bet your finance person will thank you.