To an interior designer, creating an attractive dental office space seems like a simple undertaking. And why not? How is it different from designing a trendy restaurant, a welcoming new home or an exciting office space? For a dental office to provide a strong return on investment, the focus must be on workflow efficiency and design around the people, both staff and patients.

The difference between working with a dental office interior designer and a general interior designer can be huge.

When it comes to dental practices there are many working pieces that make up an efficient dental office. Interior designers don’t know how a dental office works, what equipment is needed, where it should go, and what the staff requires to make them most effective.

Dental Office Interior Designers

Ultimately, dental office design isn’t just an aesthetic challenge, it’s also a functional one. A well designed dental office is a machine that can make your dental career more successful, more efficient and less stressful. Only experts in the field understand workflow and how to maximize productivity in a dental office.

It’s this knowledge that sets Kappler apart from general interior designers. We have decades of experience under our belt in designing successful dental offices in North America and in Europe.

Choosing The Right Dental Office Floorplan

The question that always comes up when beginning a new office design is “Where do I start?” This is the place that will define the rest of the journey and if not done properly can lead to a waste of time and resources at best and an inefficiently designed office at worst. An interior designer may start their design with the waiting room, because after all, that’s what patients see first right? At Kappler, we start with the floorplan.

A commonly made mistake when it comes to floorplan selection is that you can use a free floor plan available from a variety of manufacturers. The devil is always in the details. Kappler designers will create the right floorplan for your specific workflow. It’s a custom solution designed around you and your needs.

Questions Your Dental Office Design Needs to Answer

When it comes to starting the journey with a new dentist, it is all about listening and learning your needs. Here are just a few of the concepts we are focusing on when tailoring a new office plan to your needs:

• How many Operatories or treatment rooms are you planning?
• Will you have an onsite Lab?
• Steri and Storage should be centralized to minimize delays in going back and forth.
• Where will we locate your X-ray and other Imaging so that they can be near patients consult for easy interaction?
• Where’s the best place for material and equipment that allows access to staff but not intrusion for patients?
• How do staff and supplies move from Storage to Operatories, from Operatories to Steri, and from Ops to the Lab?
• What kind of facilities will you need for your staff and internal meetings?
• Staff lounges and labs do not need to be near patient areas, where can we most efficiently locate them?

The Right Workflow Is Key to Dental Office Design

Recent studies have shown that dental practices can achieve a 30% increase in productivity thanks to improved workflow alone. And the results can keep climbing as staff make improvements over time in their new office.

What kind of design ideas make these gains possible?

At Kappler, we believe in planning wider halls to avoid bottlenecks as staff move throughout the office. We make doors wider to make rolling equipment easier.

We strive to make supplies easier to find. The more time assistants spend looking for stuff, the less time they can actually work with patients.

We believe in standardized dental office operatory designs. Staff can begin work immediately without acclimatizing to different treatment environment so less time is wasted.

Work with the Leader of Dental Office Design 

At Kappler, we pride ourselves in being an invaluable resource for dental office design ideas. We create dental interior designs that are both beautiful and seamless, with workflows that increase your productivity and patient/staff well being. Talk to us about what can do for you in designing the dental office of your dreams.