Redesigning your dental practice can improve employee productivity, enhance patient experience and increase overall profits. But redesigning your dental practice can’t be done overnight, at least not if you want to get the most out of your new space.
Proper planning and preparation can transform a tired, uninspired dental practice into a comfortable, welcoming and productive workplace. Are you ready to start planning? Here are five essential things to consider when redesigning your dental practice.
1. Comfort
First, your redesign must cater to your patient’s comfort. One way to provide more comfort is to ensure your patients have privacy. You could do this by designing a space for patients who want to take a few minutes to themselves after a difficult procedure. Alternatively, you might create well-soundproofed dental rooms further away from the reception.
Another way you can offer comfort is to create an open-plan reception and waiting room which maximises natural light, has plenty of comfortable chairs and provides something to keep your patients occupied while they wait (such as a TV or magazines).
Remember that first impressions are important – your dental practice’s reception and waiting room must be welcoming to help put your patients at ease and relieve nervousness.
2. Health and Safety
When redesigning your dental practice, you need to make sure your plans comply with regulations and are CQC compliant. For example, if your dental practice is in an older building, it might be necessary to include new ventilation systems or add more decontamination areas in the surgery rooms.
Hygiene should be a top priority for any dental practice, so it is essential to find surfaces that are easy to clean and hard-wearing. To comply with health and safety regulations and prevent infections, you should ensure that your floors, walls and worktops are always clean. When considering your redesign, we recommend choosing materials that are easy to wipe down and can withstand chemicals.
3. Productivity
Alongside keeping patients and regulatory boards happy, you must also consider your employees. Not only do you want to ensure their work environment is comfortable and practical, but you should also consider boosting their productivity in your redesign.
One way to help boost productivity could be incorporating a break room for employees to enjoy downtime. Research shows that breaks during the working day help to increase productivity and reduce employee burnout. And by giving your employees a dedicated space to relax, you can encourage them to take their breaks.
Alternatively, you could boost productivity by adding more storage to your dental practice. More storage will help your employees easily find the surgery equipment they need, improving their productivity.
The good news is that even if you don’t have spacious surgery rooms, plenty of clever design and storage solutions still suit every space. At Turn Key Dental, our cabinetry range is custom designed to fit your specifications and is supplied and fitted by our expert craftsmen. We also offer free, no-obligation site visits to help you determine how you can best utilise your space.
4. Quality equipment
You must have the best equipment to keep your practice relevant and remain competitive within the dentistry industry. With this in mind, your redesign could incorporate new equipment that takes advantage of dental technologies.
Depending on your budget, you could opt for state-of-the-art x-ray machines or the latest Neodent Triton dental chairs. Choosing to upgrade your equipment not only streamlines your practice’s processes but also helps to enhance the patient’s experience and shows them that you care.
As well as physical equipment, you should consider other technologies that can help streamline your dental practice, such as online booking systems, the latest Customer Relationship Management software for dentists or cloud-based solutions.
5. Practical finishing touches
It can be easy to overlook practical finishing touches, such as the placement of electrical sockets and sinks, but these essentials are worth considering when you’re planning your redesign. You need to ensure these finishing touches help to keep the daily running of your practice as smooth as possible.
At Turn Key Dental, we do everything from planning the best flooring to plumbing options and from installing dental equipment to AC electrics to ensure your dental practice has all the essential practical finishing touches.
Design the Dental Practice of Your Dreams
Creating the perfect dental practice design takes some time and requires plenty of planning, but if you implement these five essentials into your redesign, then you will create the dental practice of your dreams.
Still trying to figure out where to start or what to include in your dental practice? Not to worry, we can help. With over 50 years of combined experience designing and installing dental equipment, we know a thing or two about optimising your space. Get in touch with our friendly team today to discuss your dental practice design needs, once we’ve learned more about your goals, we’ll deliver a face-to-face presentation (either in-person or via video call) with our suggestions on how to update your dental practice to benefit you, your staff and your patients.