A dentist discovers how to create more space without moving walls.
When Dr. Bradley Handick, DDS, purchased his 30-year-old practice in 1998, not much had changed since it was first built. After 13 years of running a successful practice in this cramped and dated environment, he decided it was time for an update. Dr. Handick set out to spruce up the practice with new paint and landscaping… but his account representative suggested that he speak to one of their in-house designers to consider a “think smarter” approach to dental office design.
Open to change.
While local building codes and load-bearing walls prevented Dr. Handick from tearing them down or launching into a complete structural overhaul, his representative and dental office design team showed him a new floor plan, which included the addition of a second door into the operatories to open up flow into the in the treatment rooms. “Everything changed when I could imagine what it could be like,” expressed Dr. Handick.
A trip to the A-dec campus was next. Dr. Handick spent hands-on time with the possibilities in a series of 18 fully equipped model operatories. The combination of cabinetry and dental equipment made an immediate impact. After testing the side and front deliveries, Dr. Handick quickly identified one with balance and feel that felt right for him. “The moment I sat down with the Continental delivery system, it dawned on me: Things could be so much easier,” says Dr. Handick.
A modest update has a big impact.
Creating more of an open entry, moving a sink that used to be on the doctor’s side to the assistant’s side and other small changes, freeing up room for a new front delivery system. An A-dec dental cabinet behind the doctor created space for the computer tower, monitors, and a lot of storage for equipment used to live outside the room. The entire remodel, inside and out, was complete in ten months. Today, with a streamlined and transformed environment, greater flow and ease for the staff and everything close at hand, Dr. Handick is ecstatic—and far more energetic at the end of the week. His team couldn’t agree more: The well-planned, modest overhaul made a bold and lasting impact on the practice.
