DAMAS - Quality Matters!

Quality means consistently meeting your clients’ requirements.

You know your skills. You know you provide high quality work and an excellent service to your clients. But how can you prove it to your existing customers and use it to attract new ones?

DAMAS will show:

• You meet the requirements of the Medical Devices Directive (MDD) and the Medical Devices Regulations (MDR)
• You use tried and tested materials which help protect the health of patients
• You are geared up to meet the needs of both the NHS and the private dental market
• That you value the skills of your employees
• You care about the service that you provide

So what is DAMAS?

DAMAS is the ‘Dental Appliance Manufacturers Audit Scheme’. It is a quality management system designed specifically for the manufacturers of custom made medical devices.

Once a year your laboratory will be audited by a third party assessor to make sure that you conform to the specification. This is a set of criteria that will guarantee consistency and prove without
doubt that you comply with the MDD and the MDR. The current DAMAS Specification is Issue 6.

What can DAMAS do for me?

DAMAS will:

• Cut remake levels
• Reduce waste
• Improve efficiency
• Save the most precious commodity you have, TIME
• Provide you with a method for organising your paperwork
• Highlight individual staff training needs
• Provide traceability throughout the whole manufacturing process
• Reduce complaints
• Attract more customers
• Ensure that you are well equipped if you are inspected by the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency)

And when I become DAMAS Registered?

• You will receive a certificate to prove that you have successfully put the system in place and have passed the third party audit
• You will be provided with the DAMAS logo to promote yourselves to new and existing customers
• You will appear on both the DLA and the DAMAS websites as being DAMAS registered
• You will appear in the DLA Directory which is circulated to dentists nationwide advertising that your laboratory is DAMAS registered
• You can receive a substantial discount on laboratory insurance from UK Special Risks
• You can purchase marketing leaflets from the DLA who can personalise them to help promote yourselves to existing and new customers
• The DAMAS team will always be on hand for support and advice

How do I get started?

That’s easy! Just follow the instructions in this flowchart (this is a PDF file and is 316Kb - you will need Adobe Acrobat viewer to read it).

 

Backed up by the dental industry

Developed by the Dental Laboratories Association, DAMAS is designed to bring significant benefits to everyone in the dental chain. Your laboratory will have reliable quality procedures and traceability… your dentist customers can be confident that you adhere to all UK regulations relating to lab work and the production of dental appliances… and their patients will have the reassurance of excellent quality craftsmanship. The scheme is supported by a host of dental industry partners: the British Dental Association, the General Dental Practitioners Association, Dental Protection, the Department of Health, the British Dental Health Association, the British Dental Trades Association and Denplan Ltd. There are already 133 DAMAS accredited labs - why not join them?

 

Finding a DAMAS Laboratory

All DAMAS Laboratories are featured in our special on-line database: Lab Finder. To search, please click the Lab Finder link in the bar at the top of the page or click here.