Why Color Method should be in every practice

It can be easy for oral health-care professionals  to overlook the importance of organization when it comes to our dental instruments and materials, but the cost of disorganization can be high. Clutter and chaos can cause serious losses in productivity for dental practices, leading to more significant problems down the line. When treatment rooms and central sterilization areas are disorganized, they account for significant amounts of financial and emotional stress. In addition, schedules start falling behind and inventory management is inefficient, yielding an excess amount of clutter. Staff and patients experience more stress, extra time is spent in room turnover, and communication systems begin to fail. Color-coded containers and storage solutions specifically developed for dental teams can provide relief to all these problems by incorporating a visual element into both instrument and material organization.

What is Color Method?

Color Method is the process of managing dental instruments and materials by assigning each procedure a different color. Zirc’s Color Method creates a streamlined, stress-free, day-to-day routine from setup to sterilization in five simple steps. Implementing a simple system by assigning a color to each procedure in the practice can really impact organization in the workspace. Once colors are assigned, teams use corresponding trays, tubs, locking covers, cassettes, and more to organize their materials and instruments. The storage system’s design means our everyday setups are easily identifiable, accessible, neat, and hygienic. Color is the key to creating a properly organized workflow optimized for efficiency. I have implemented Color Method and can attest to its streamlined and automated processes that have transformed our entire practice into an office that is organized and allows us to better focus on our patients. When instruments and materials move efficiently, so do you. This method saves me steps every day. I no longer have to run out of the room to get an item that I forgot or shuffle around in my op to find barriers or materials.

How to implement Color Method into your practice

Once you have chosen your colors, it’s time to get organized. Start with instrument management, using trays with locking covers, cassettes, and bur holders to help save time in looking for missing items. E-Z Jett Cassettes come in six different sizes and a variety of bur holders, allowing you to choose what best meets your instrument needs. Not only do color-coded containers save time, but they also provide the following benefits:

• Efficiency. Instruments are kept together from sterilization right through to procedure and storage. This ensures that no items are misplaced and the correct tools for each procedure are all in one place. There is less sorting, so you’ll save time and eliminate the chance of reprocessing errors.
• Cost-savings. Durable, antimicrobial, affordable cassettes protect the instruments, prolonging equipment life and saving money on replacing items before their expiration date.
• Infection prevention. Cassettes offer a unique type of protection from disease exposure to staff. Handling contaminated instruments less frequently will minimize the chances of injury. The clear locking tray covers allow practitioners to easily and quickly see their instruments, while remaining compliant with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in instrument transportation.
• Patient perception. Patients who are exposed to a clean, well-organized workspace will automatically feel more at ease in your office.

Central sterilization

Zirc’s clinical and efficiency team recommends storing tray setups and tubs in central sterilization, creating a “grab-n-go organization.” With a color chart posted in the sterilization area, any team member can easily grab the blue tray and blue tub to have everything they need for the upcoming procedure. Have you ever found yourself scrambling for time to reprocess instruments? The B-Lok Tray with cover provides stackable storage so team members can assist one another with instrument reprocessing. Imagine you are a new hire or temping in a new office. You walk into the sterilization area to find Multi-Mod Racks that store the instrument setups, and tubs housing the specific procedure materials and consumable items. The posted color-code chart quickly identifies the color for hygiene as purple. Everything you need will be found within purple cassettes, purple trays, and purple tubs. The trays are stacked so you can drop your dirty trays and grab the next setup with all the items you’ll need. You don’t have to scramble to find where barriers are, HVE tips, etc. Does this sound like utopia? Or maybe a dream? This was always my frustration when temping. I felt like a cook in someone else’s kitchen, or even worse, I felt like a burden when I had to ask others to help me find items.

Uncluttered treatment rooms