Believe it or not, there are articles on the internet stating reasons why people hate their dentist or avoid seeing their dentist. It's so bad, teams are being trained to keep up with the chaos of broken appointments to meet the bare minimum on daily production goals.
If you've been in a rut similar to this, we're suggesting a renovation, refurbishment, and extension plan for your dental clinic to boost the curb appeal. Renovation refers to restoring the building to a better state of repair, refurbishment refers to redecorating, while extension refers to stretching the building further. Like any other business, this is a step in the right direction to ensure success.
A dental practice must include a reception, waiting room, decontamination room, consultation room, surgery, imaging room, plant room, and staff room. Here are three things to consider for your dental clinic to improve its curb appeal:
1. The Floor Plan for Your Dental Clinic
No one likes bumping into objects while making their way in or out. A smooth workflow is a necessity in a dental clinic. Patients, dentists, and other staff members should be able to experience the continuity of the floor plan as they make their way from the reception to the waiting lounge, examination room, laboratory, and finally to the pharmacy before heading out. All of these should be spacious enough for the patient to not feel claustrophobic.
Even if you're short on space, learn some clever techniques to ensure your small treatment room creates the illusion of a bigger, more accommodating space. But remember that anything too small may restrict work productivity; there must be enough space to accommodate the clinician and assistant so they can move about freely without bumping into the chunky equipment.
Moreover, the floor plan should allow for expansion when the profitability margin allows you to. We say that with great surety since dental practices have an easier time transforming into million-dollar industries. Choose the location of your dental practice wisely to receive the flow of patients you want. It's a good idea to opt-out of a locality with one too many functional dental practices because patients rarely ever look for a new dentist.
2. The Flooring
Who said anything about sticking to a white floor for your dental clinic? Bring in a variety of different flooring types around the clinic. For example, you could opt for a wooden floor or carpeted floor around the reception, but not in the treatment room, as it may stain and become a breeding ground for healthcare-associated infections easily. Disabled access is imperative to the flooring layout.
Make sure the flooring is compatible to accommodate the latest equipment. A smart starting point is to analyze your needs versus wants when planning out the space. There are options for general dentistry, dental implantology, cosmetic dentistry, maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, prosthodontics, and paediatric dentistry. Each of these will require a different setup.
For remodelling or construction, you'll have to consider site acquisition, development, architectural, plumbers, electrical, mechanical, structural, and civil engineering costs.
3. Light, Camera, Action
Right off the bat, we're going to put it out there that you're going to want to be intelligent with your light fixtures. Dental clinics require ample light, but nothing that makes it worse for sore eyes. This is particularly important for the examination and treatment as the shadows, and darker regions may turn misleading.
Likewise, the paint you choose for your walls must be chosen carefully as to soothe the mind. Make use of cooler tones for the treatment rooms, but warmer colours around the reception or waiting area wouldn't hurt. Spice the walls up with your self-made gallery that attracts the patients; however, retain the professional look of the dental clinic at all times. Another great addition to the walls of a treatment room is a television, so the patients don't get too bored lying with their mouth open on the dental chair for hours on end and are always looking forward to returning.
Other things you may need to lay out in the budget include the phone service, security system, IT requirements, furniture, equipment, and cabinetry.
Design a Dental Clinic That Meets Your Objectives
A one-on-one with the construction team and design-build unit at NOVESTA can help you renovate, refurbish, and extend your dental clinic adequately. The more your plan, the easier designing and building the dental clinic becomes.
NOVESTA is a construction firm operating in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta, and Vancouver, British Colombia. We've already hit the eight-year benchmark in real estate development, construction, and renovations with residential and commercial buildings that maximize profit margins. Our list of past clients keep bragging about NOVESTA commercial and NOVESTA residential services, and we, for one, are not complaining.
Services under the commercial flag include commercial renovations and restaurant remodelling, whereas the residential projects comprise condo construction, multi-family residential builder, and residential renovations. Our NOVESTA commercial construction and renovation specializes in development projects of all sizes; we've handled projects with a net worth of $25 million and fixed doorknobs.