Over its 19-year life, Dr Renton says the Fimet chair has required minimal repairs.

“One reason for buying the Fimet chair was that the instrument arm can swing across to the dental assistant’s side. I can still talk to the patient about their treatment while the assistant cleans up and the patient is oblivious to it.”

At the time, he says Fimet was the only chair manufacturer to offer this feature. With other units, the assistant must come to the dentist’s side to begin cleaning and would have to wait until the patient leaves. The swing-away arm also allows for easy access in and out of the chair.

Not only did the unit catch his eye though, it captured his imagination. Advantages for workflow, separation of tasks, ease of turnaround and possible access from the chair to the steri offered by the chair influenced his ideas about the design plans for the new practice.

“We built the steri adjacent to the new surgery so that the nurse has immediate access from the chair – I can’t really imagine how much difference that has made over the years in time and ease.”

The unit features a continental-style delivery system and Dr Renton discounts a common criticism that the spring-loaded hand pieces will pull back against the dentist’s grip, causing discomfort. “There’s no drag at all with the Fimet hand pieces. They’re almost weightless and they allow movement backwards and forwards and a little sideways, so it’s very functional. I really like it.”

It also allows for easy cleaning because the hand pieces rest in shallow, easily-wiped depressions on a tray, rather than hanging in bracket-type holders. The chair’s smooth lines, he says, also make equipment hygiene simple to maintain and the upholstery’s lack of grooves or multiple stitch lines reduce contamination risks.

“I’m very happy with this one,” he says. “Before I bought it, I spent lots of time looking at every unit at a dental exhibition – three days sitting in each of them, driving people nuts. Afterwards, I made a spread sheet with the pros and cons of each and that’s how I came to the conclusion about Fimet. It had more pluses than the others.”

During practice expansion in October 2013, I purchased my second Fimet chair, the original 19 year old F1 chair is still working perfectly well.