When we opened our clinic in Mississauga in 2019, the equipment list got all the attention — the chair, the handpiece, the digital sensor. Nobody warned me the real monthly cost of running a practice would be the things we throw away. Gloves, masks, bibs, pouches: consumables became our second-biggest line item after payroll.
If you're building a first stock order for a new practice — or you've just been handed the purchasing job — this checklist is for you. It's organized by zone, sized for a two-operator clinic seeing twelve patients a day. Adjust up or down as needed.
Zone 1: Front Desk
Front-desk items don't feel clinical, so they get under-ordered — until someone is at the pharmacy mid-morning instead of booking appointments.
| Item | Suggested quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Face masks for reception staff | 50 per month | Same SKU as operatory: one stock line |
| Hand sanitizer refills | 4 L per month | Wall dispensers eat this |
| Patient forms, clipboard covers | 200 sheets per month | Digital intake helps; keep paper backup |
| Small garbage bags (10–20 L) | 60 per month | Reception + washroom bins |
Zone 2: Operatory
This is where the volume lives. A standard restorative visit runs through two pairs of gloves, two masks, one bib, and a handful of disposables — multiply that by twelve patients a day.
4-mil nitrile examination gloves are our daily driver. We standardized on one brand after a bad run of torn cuffs from a cheap supplier; powder-free avoids allergy complaints, and 4-mil handles most procedures without the hand fatigue of heavy-duty gloves.
| Item | Suggested quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nitrile gloves, 4 mil | 20–30 boxes per operator | Roughly 200–300 pairs per operator per month |
| Procedure masks | 200 per operator per month | ASTM Level 2 or 3 for aerosol-generating work |
| Face shields or safety glasses | 1 pair per operator + spares | Replace when scratched or fogged |
| Dental bibs | 300 per month for two operators | 3-layer paper bibs with PE backing survive rinsing without shredding |
| Saliva ejectors | 500 per month | Buy in cases; they vanish |
| Cotton rolls, gauze, fluoride trays | Monthly, per tray setup | Two-week buffer minimum |
| Chair paper rolls | 2 rolls per operator per month | Thin ones tear on every patient |
| Specimen bags | 50 per month | For referrals and lab send-outs |
Zone 3: Sterilization Room
This zone has rules attached. In Ontario, the RCDSO requires a biological indicator for each sterilizer on every day that it is used — daily monitoring, not weekly. The weekly baseline is the CDC / AAMI ST79 standard in most US states. Across Canada, CSA Z314 is the reference for reprocessing medical devices. Pouches, tape, and indicators are not where you save twenty dollars.
We switched to Class 4 chemical indicator pouches last year. The dual indicator only changes when both steam and temperature have done their job, which beats trusting the machine's display. We run a spore test on every day the sterilizer is used — 3M Attest is what our lab uses — and the RCDSO expects those results documented. Assorted sizes stop us wasting a big pouch on a bur block.
| Item | Suggested quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sterilization pouches, Class 4 | 200 per month | Dual indicator, assorted sizes |
| Sterilization rolls | 2 rolls per month | Cassettes and wrapped trays |
| Indicator tape | 6 rolls per month | On every wrapped pack, every load |
| Biological indicators | 20–22 per month | One per day the sterilizer is used, per RCDSO; CSA Z314 sets the general monitoring framework |
| Ultrasonic cleaning solution | 1 bottle per month | Change daily at the manufacturer's dilution |
| Autoclave service items | Quarterly | Filters, door gasket, cleaning wipes |
| Biohazard waste bags | 30 per month | Check provincial medical waste rules |
Zone 4: Laboratory
Even a practice that sends lab work out needs a bench stock. The material shelf has a way of looking full while being empty of what you need. We buy impression material from Dentsply and Kerr through our Henry Schein contract; per-unit price is better than retail and expiries are easier to track.
| Item | Suggested quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Impression material (PVS) | 2–3 cartridges per month | Check expiry dates; old PVS sets up wrong |
| Mixing tips | 1 box per month | Cheap to stock, annoying to run out of |
| Articulating paper | 2 packs per month | Keep horseshoe and strip formats |
| Stone and plaster | 5 kg per quarter | Store sealed; moisture ruins it |
Before You Place the Order
Three habits keep our stock room from becoming a disaster zone:
- Track usage, not gut feeling. Count what you opened last month before ordering next; two months of that and your numbers match reality.
- Standardize SKUs. One glove, one mask, one pouch. Fewer lines, fewer mistakes, better bulk pricing — consolidating with one supplier dropped our per-unit costs.
- Keep a two-week buffer on clinical items. Shipping delays happen; a missed pouch order should never cancel a day of treatment.
Health Canada regulates medical devices for a reason: the reprocessing chain from dirty instrument to sterile pack is a closed loop, and every link is a consumable you control. Stock the zones, keep the buffer, and the daily chaos of running a clinic gets quieter.
Related reading: clinic supplies in Canada procurement checklist
read our dental sterilization monitoring compliance pillar for RCDSO rules.
browse the dental compliance hub for more clinic-ready sterilization guides.
Related reading: adjustable flip-up dental loupes (2.5× and 3.5×) for operatory magnification and posture, plus the wireless dental headlight that mounts to the same frame.
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