Is It Time to Renovate Your Dental Clinic?

For many years of having a successful dental practice your clinic has been your constant companion whether you’re performing a professional teeth cleaning or a complex and lengthy dental surgery.

You’ve been busy keeping up to date with the latest dental techniques and researches. And through those years you’ve also become busy improving the smiles of patients no matter their age. You’ve performed all those procedures in your good clinic.

But as you keep yourself up to date with the latest dental procedures, your clinic might also need some updating. Perhaps you want to improve its ergonomics so you can become more productive. You want to make the space efficient for your daily use so you can easily move around and feel comfortable. You also want to make your dental clinic achieve a more modern look while still maintaining your unique brand image.

Renovation while maintaining your unique brand image

Aside from your practice consistently delivering excellent results, one reason your patients keep coming back and they keep on referring you to their friends is that you have a unique brand image. It’s a complex combination of attributes that’s unique to you. This may include how you look and how you talk. This may also include how your overall dental clinic looks and feels like (from reception station up to that dental chair).

This unique combination of attributes allows your practice to stand out and your patients to trust you. With this unique brand you are able to best demonstrate your value and expertise. As a result, your patients call you first thing in the morning whenever they require a dental appointment (for emergencies, routine cleaning, professional whitening or any other procedure).

That’s why it’s highly recommended to keep your core attributes (especially of your dental clinic) so you still maintain your identity and unique brand. This is important especially to your regular clients you’ve assisted over the years. They want to make sure it’s still you and everything’s safe and stable.

However, you might have realised by now that your clinic requires some updating. Aside from making the place look more modern and improve its ergonomics, the updates will actually signal progress. It’s like you’re showing that your practice keeps on updating and improving as years go by. But you have to accomplish all these without damaging your unique brand image.

To accomplish this, architects, builders and interior designers take the time to determine what make each dental clinic unique. They also study and assess the dentist-patient interaction to improve the ergonomics and make the use of available space more efficient. This way, they can make the necessary modifications while still maintaining your core image.

Perhaps the colour theme and basic layout will be kept as they are. Or the dentist’s workflow (or the movement of patient from reception to dental chair) will be maintained because the dentist has worked in that manner for several years.

Whichever is the case, some elements are likely to be kept intact during renovation. There might be some rearrangements but this is to improve comfort and ergonomics. There could also be a total renovation but the key elements will be reconstructed to maintain your brand.

Making the renovation process more economical

We’ve just discussed a few important things about renovation. Let’s now discuss the cost.

It’s possible that the dental clinic renovation will require $1,000 to $2,000 (design, materials plus labour) per square metre. The total cost might get a lot higher depending on the level of modifications you require. For instance, complete and complex renovations would take more days thereby increasing the labour costs. Also, consider the removal and new placement of the water pipes and electrical cables underneath the floors, ceiling and walls.

To reduce the renovation time and make the renovation process more economical, many dentists choose to minimise the number of modifications to be done. Perhaps only the reception station requires updating. Or, a few things and furniture pieces in the actual dental clinic would need to be placed elsewhere to better use the available space.

In these cases, construction and renovation companies take the time to study the requirements and vision of the dentist. Drawings and plans are only temporary and we can make any changes as we see fit. But once the construction or renovation begins, the succeeding changes will be permanent or very expensive to correct.

That’s why it’s crucial to work with builders and designers who have already completed similar projects. This way, you’ll benefit from their gathered insights through the years as they have built and renovated different dental clinics. You’ll save money and effort in the whole course of the project. You’ll also save a lot of time because the renovation project will be completed much earlier. As a result, your dental practice will reopen for business as soon as possible.

High return on investment

It’s possible to make the whole renovation process more economical. But still, it’s a significant investment. Will it all be worth it?

Anything that will improve your work or patient experience is a worthwhile investment. It’s especially the case in improving your workplace because you’ll gain permanent and ongoing benefits from it.

For instance, through the years you’ve purchased and installed equipment, cabinets and furniture for your dental office and clinic. As a result, the place became cramped or disorganised. It might now be hard to remember how your clinic originally looks like. Also, the essentials and the clutter have piled up through the years. Your senses (and your patients) might have already gotten used to all that. Insidiously, these might already have some effect to your productivity and your patient’s impression of your practice.

But it doesn’t have to remain that way for long. With some renovation and updating, you can vastly improve your clinic’s appearance and workflow. You can improve your productivity (which may translate to thousands of dollars and improved patient experience). You can perform each procedure more efficiently while also feeling comfortable.

Improved patient experience & outcomes

If you can work smoothly and efficiently, often this also translates to improved patient experience. Patients will feel that they’re in the hands of a professional. Also, the “intimidating or uncomfortable” procedure will be completed earlier.

Let’s look at it from the patient’s perspective. Undergoing a dental procedure is almost always an inconvenient task to them. In fact, many people would find any excuse just to avoid visiting a dentist (unless there’s a serious dental issue or the pain is intolerable). It’s also a discomforting experience which is why any effort you put in to ease their discomfort will be greatly appreciated.

If the dental clinic is cramped (inefficient use of space which can be corrected by renovation), the patient will instantly see and feel it. The environment is also likely to affect the movement of the dentist. There might be unnecessary movements and struggles whenever the dentist interacts with the patient, uses the equipment and reaches for the files and supplies.

But with a properly planned and optimal space, the dentist can work smoothly and efficiently. It’s a mark of a professional to demonstrate smoothness and efficiency in his or her work (up to the point of being boring because there are no unnecessary movements). And this can be achieved by making the environment promote efficiency and professionalism.

As a result, patients will feel at ease and comfortable during waiting and the actual dental procedure. They will feel at peace that everything will go well and a successful outcome will arrive in a just a few minutes. Your practice and clinic will be able to deliver an excellent patient experience while also ensuring an excellent outcome. This will bring a smile both to you and your patient.

Is it time to renovate your dental clinic?

You’ve been busy keeping up to date with the latest practices and techniques in dentistry. But perhaps now is also the right time to also update your dental clinic and office.

Here at Archcon Constructions, we understand the unique requirements of dental clinics when it comes to new construction and renovation. Aside from the overall design and workflow, we also pay close attention to the water supply, waste disposal, lighting, electrical points, comfortable seating and ergonomics. These are all crucial in running a smooth, efficient and profitable dental practice.

We’ll all accomplish these while maintaining your unique brand image throughout. Contact us today and let’s discuss your vision and requirements. We will listen carefully to your aims and goals so the planning and design phase will be successful in the first place.