Ontario Dental Supply Ordering: Par Levels for Gauze, Gloves and Tape

A par level is the number you never want to drop below, and in a dental office it is easier to set than most teams expect: count one ordinary week, multiply by four, add a buffer, and write the figure on the shelf edge. The three lines that cause the most emergency runs are gauze, gloves and tape, because all three are consumed by every procedure and none of them look low until they are almost gone. A practical starting point is one 200-piece pack of 12-ply gauze sponges open and one unopened, with the reorder trigger set at the last opened pack.

How do you set a par level for gauze sponges?

Count the sponges used during one ordinary clinical day, at every chair, including the ones thrown away unused when a tray is re-laid. Multiply by the number of clinical days in the month, then add 20 percent for the weeks that run long. A three-chair practice typically lands between one and two 200-piece packs a month.

Write the count on the shelf, not in a spreadsheet nobody opens. The trigger should be "when the second-to-last pack is opened", so the order goes in while there is still product in the drawer and the delivery can absorb a day of delay.

How many gloves should sit on the shelf at once?

Gloves are the line where a par level saves the most money and causes the most arguments. Hold four to six weeks of the sizes you actually pull, in boxes, plus one unopened case. Anything beyond that is capital sitting in a cupboard and, in a small office, gloves that get used less carefully because the box looks endless.

Review the size mix quarterly against the boxes that are open, not against the boxes that were ordered. Three open mediums and one unopened large tells you more about the next order than any report.

How much tape does a chair use per month?

Tape is consumed per sterilized pack rather than per patient, so count packs, not appointments. An office running 40 packs a day uses roughly 800 runs of tape a month, which is two to three 12-roll cases of cloth tape depending on how much is used per pack. A 1 inch tape is the default; 2 inch tape is used for larger packs and should be stocked separately rather than substituted.

Keep one case unopened and one roll per chair in use. Tape that has been sitting in a warm drawer for a year still works, but the adhesive on cheap tape can leave residue on pouch film, which is a quality complaint waiting to happen.

How often should par levels be reviewed?

Monthly for the first quarter, then quarterly once the numbers settle. Review after any change in chair count, associate hours, procedure mix or supplier lead time, because each of those moves usage by more than a seasonal bump does.

Keep the review to one page: line, par, current count, trigger, lead time. If the page grows past that, the review stops happening, which is how offices end up back at emergency ordering.

Related reading

sterilization monitoring collection; glove par levels per chair per month; first-year pouch and strip volumes; wholesale and multi-site ordering Reselling? become a distributor.

Print the monthly supply checklist, size the next order with the clinic supply planner, and set up wholesale ordering so case pricing and account terms sit on one invoice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a par level in a dental office?

The minimum quantity you keep on the shelf before reordering. It is set from measured weekly use plus a buffer sized to the supplier lead time.

Should par levels differ between chairs?

Only where the work differs. Operatory chairs with more restorative work use more gauze and tape than hygiene rooms, so count by room type rather than dividing the total evenly.

How much buffer is enough?

Two to four weeks above the reorder trigger is workable for most Ontario offices. More than that turns into storage cost and expiring stock.

CliniEco Medical is a licensed medical device establishment (MDEL #35334).