Should equipment be registered in my name?

Key facts

What does "registered to you" actually cover?

Four different records, held by four different parties:

1. The state x-ray registration, held by your state radiation program.
2. Manufacturer warranty and service records, held by the manufacturer and dealer.
3. Software licenses: imaging, practice management, sensor drivers, CAD/CAM. Held by each software vendor.
4. Cloud and vendor portals: chair connectivity dashboards, imaging cloud, Wi-Fi controllers, phone carriers. Held under whoever created the account.

From the MSP chair, number 4 is where I see practices get stuck. Accounts get created during install by whoever is on site, under their email address. Years later, nobody at the practice can log in.

How do I check the x-ray registration?

Look up your registration certificate and confirm the registrant is your practice's current legal entity. States treat ownership changes strictly:

• Texas prohibits transferring certificates of registration without written consent from the agency, and asks to be notified in writing within 30 days of a change in name or ownership. A change in the legal entity, through sale, merger or reorganization, needs a new registration (Texas DSHS).
• Minnesota says a new owner must register before operating the x-ray equipment; registration and fees don't transfer (Minnesota DOH).
• South Carolina says its Facility Registration Approval doesn't transfer to a new owner, and acquiring an existing facility needs a new approval and fees (SC DES).

If you incorporated, changed your entity or bought the practice, the registration may still name the old owner. Fix it with your state program. Shielding and registration steps for new installs are in x-ray shielding plans.

How do I check warranty and service records?

Get the original invoices. A-dec's limited warranty applies to products bought from A-dec or an authorized A-dec dealer, measured from the date of A-dec's invoice. Chairs and delivery systems carry 10 years, and mechanical room compressors and vacuums 5 years. Non-A-dec items such as sterilizers and cameras carry their own manufacturer's warranty (A-dec).

That means the invoice, with serial numbers, is the warranty record. Ask your dealer for a copy of every invoice and service record with your practice name on it. For x-ray units, also ask for the FDA Form 2579 report of assembly. The installer must provide it to the purchaser within 15 days of assembly (FDA). Log all of it in an inventory; the free equipment inventory CSV template (placeholder download, coming soon) has columns for serials, invoices and warranty dates. See the equipment inventory template guide. When the equipment inventory & appraisal report launches (free tool, coming soon), it will turn that list into a report showing each device's serial, invoice, warranty end date and owner of record. That's the document a lender, buyer or new IT provider will ask for.

How do I check software and portal accounts?

For each system, answer three questions:

1. Whose name and email is on the license or account?
2. Who has the admin login, and is MFA tied to a phone you control?
3. Can you export your data if you leave the vendor?

HHS 405(d) recommends that small health care organizations keep an inventory of their technology assets (HHS 405(d) HICP). This is the ownership column of that inventory. The credential ownership checklist (free tool, coming soon) walks through each system and includes a template letter for requesting credentials. See who owns dental office passwords.

How do I fix registrations that aren't mine?

• State x-ray: contact your state radiation program and file whatever their change-of-ownership or new-registration process requires.
• Warranty: ask the dealer and manufacturer to update the owner of record, and keep the invoices.
• Software: ask the vendor to move the license to the practice's legal name and your admin email.
• Portals: have the current admin add you as owner, then remove or downgrade their own access.
• IT provider resists? See what to do when an IT company withholds passwords and contract ownership clauses.

Do this before you need it. A warranty claim, a practice sale or a switch of IT providers is a bad time to discover the gap. If you're selling, see equipment records at practice sale.

Which free tools help with this?

FloorStack Studio (live, free plan) places every device on your floor plan and gives you a device schedule with rooms, ports and cable lengths (FloorStack FAQ).

How FloorStack helps

The credential ownership checklist (free tool, coming soon) will list every account to claim, with the "password hostage" letter template. The equipment inventory & appraisal report (free tool, coming soon) will tie each device to its serial, invoice, warranty and owner of record. The free inventory CSV (free download, coming soon) gets you started today. FloorStack is a vendor-neutral dental build-out platform. See the Own Your Dental Passwords hub. Also use FloorStack Studio (live, free plan).

Free tools for this step

• Credential ownership checklist (free tool, coming soon): claim every account, with the letter template.
• Equipment inventory & appraisal report (free tool, coming soon): track serials, invoices, warranties and owners.
• Equipment inventory CSV (free download, coming soon): start the list now.
• Studio (live, free plan): map every device and drop on your floor plan.