Küster Dental Weblog -

How Did Your Dental Office Celebrate Earth Day?

Posted on: April 23rd, 2012 by admin No Comments

Yesterday was Earth Day. What did you do to celebrate our planet and help protect it for future generations?

Last Friday, the EcoDentistry Association kicked off the Earth Day weekend by hosting a TweetChat on green dentistry. They invited two dentists who have made the decision to “go green” to answer questions from “the audience” about how going green has impacted their dental practices. Did you know?

Some patients drive 2+ hours to visit a dentist that has adopted green practices
One dentist that has “gone green” asked patients in a survey if this was important to them and 99.9% said yes
Going chartless/paperless is estimated to remove 25 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere annually from just one dental office
Dental office remain the number 1 contributor of mercury to local wastewater
An estimated 100 million eco-minded Americans seek dentists that have adopted green practices

The EcoDentistry Association has put together some amazing statistics on the waste that dental offices produce each year. For example:

4.8 million lead foils
28 million liters of toxic x-ray fixer
3.7 tons of mercury waste
1.7 billion sterilization pouches
680 million chair barriers, light handle covers, & patient bibs

Isn’t it time to start looking around your office and thinking about ways you and your team can reduce your impact on Mother Earth? Plus, when you get ready to remodel or relocate, isn’t it important to consult a designer that is well versed in green design and initiatives? After all, healthier indoor air quality = healthier patients and dental team = healthier outdoors.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

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Incorporating Universal Design

Posted on: April 20th, 2012 by admin No Comments

I came across this inspirational story of a courageous woman and her struggles to maintain an independent and fulfilling life after a horrible event rendered her paralyzed. While the story focuses on redesigning her home for independence, many of the principals she touches on are critical in dental office design for ensuring a quality patient experience. Not all of your patients have permanent disabilities. Some are only in a wheelchair or on crutches for a short time. While the Americans with Disabilities Act dictates design standards for commercial offices, they don’t require retroactive changes and we visit offices all the time that are out of compliance with these basic guidelines. Additionally, how often does a member of your team miss work due to a “weekend warrior” injury? Would they be better able to continue to be productive if your dental office was designed in such a way that is was more accessible?

Many thanks to the Universal Design Living Laboratory for bringing us this inspirational story.

A National Demonstration Home in Columbus, Ohio: The Story Behind the Project

On June 13, 1998 my husband, Mark Leder, and I decided to celebrate our anniversary by going on a bicycle ride. It was a beautiful day with a clear blue sky, perfect biking weather. I was riding down the path ahead of Mark, when he heard a loud crack and yelled, “Look over there something is falling!” I glanced back at him and suddenly a 3 1/2 ton tree came crushing down on me, leaving me injured on the bike path. My life was changed in that instant! I was paralyzed from the waist down with a spinal cord injury.

As I lay in the hospital, I was angry, scared and mad at the world. more

Tags: ADA, dental design, dental experience, dental interior design, dental office design, dental office ergonomics, ergonomics, office design, universal design
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The Gazebo Comes Together

Posted on: April 18th, 2012 by admin No Comments

Vintage midcentury clamshell chair and planter

Well, our gazebo for the 51^st St Margaret’s Guild Decorator Showhouse is coming together. The new ceiling fan is hung, a vase for the cocktail table has been found, and the planters now have plants and flowers. Many thanks to Andy at Verdeyen Landscape for designing our plantings. We’re only one week out from the first pre-tour through the house and gardens and we’re still searching for throw pillows for the chairs. What does any of this have to do with dental office design? Nothing!

We are big believers in giving back to our local community and participating in the annual St Margaret’s Guild Decorators Showhouse is a great way to “design for a cause” and do our little bit to raise money for Wishard Hospital. Plus, the two week event is a blast mixing and mingling with those that come to tour the property and see what all of the various designers have come up with for their areas.

Of course, if you have an outdoor space as part of your dental office we can make sure it is a great extension of your practice and branding message, too. When the weather is nice what better place to invite patients to sit back and relax?

Tags: decorators showhouse, dental office branding, dental office design, interior design, show house indy, Showhouse Indy
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What’s in a Sign?

Posted on: April 16th, 2012 by admin No Comments

ADA Compliant Smile Branded Dental Restroom Sign

What does the signage in your dental office say about you and your dental practice? Without realizing it the signage you have in your office may be saying more than you know. In order to be in compliance with the American’s with Disabilities Act, signage must also be written in braille and placed in specific locations so patients who are visually impaired can successfully navigate about the office. Amazingly enough, many of the companies that sell standard signage with braille wording do not employ any visually impaired people, and the braille on their signs is misspelled or just plain wrong.

The signage in your dental office is also another branding opportunity for your practice. By having custom signage designed and manufactured for your practice, you are able to incorporate your brand’s colors, style, and other features into every sign. This provides a subtle reinforcement of your unique message throughout your office. This also gives you an opportunity to make your patients smile.

Note: Küster Dental Office Design utilizes a sign shop that employs primarily visually impaired individuals to make sure that all of the signage designed for our projects is correct.

Tags: ADA, branding, client experience, customer experience, dental design, dental experience, dental interior design, dental office branding, dental office design, ergonomics, patient experience
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51 Years of Designing for a Cause

Posted on: April 13th, 2012 by admin No Comments

Midcentury clam shell patio chairs with fresh paint for the showhouse.

This year the St Margaret’s Guild Decorator Showhouse turns 51. This makes it the longest running decorator showhouse in the country. Each year, dozens of designers, decorators, and landscape artisans decend upon a donated home to transform it into a showcase for two weeks to raise money for Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis. While having nothing really to do about dental office design, we like to participate in this great event as a way of giving back to our community.

This year we are decorating the gazebo in the back yard of the home. Here is a snap shot of vintage, midcentury patio chairs that will be centerpiece of our design. Over the next few weeks we will share more photos and stories from the event. We hope you’ll enjoy them!

Tags: decorators showhouse, dental design, dental office design, designing for a cause, interior design, Showhouse Indy, st margaret's guild, Wishard Hospital
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The Demographics of Healthcare

Posted on: April 11th, 2012 by admin No Comments

My good friends over at TrendyMinds tipped me off to this article on healthcare demographics across the U.S. Coming right on the heals of the NPR report on the shortage of dentists in Western Kansas I found this interesting. I hope you do likewise.

The Demographic of Healthcare

by Matt Carmichael

You might think that, averaged across all populations, disease would be pretty evenly distributed.

You would be wrong.

As grim as it is to say this, for health-care marketers, knowing where people are sick is a useful data point. As part of the American Consumer Project, we asked GfKMRI to run their 25,000 household survey data through the Patchwork Nation segments. We then developed this cheery map of disease prevalence. As you can see, certain areas — which represent places where certain consumer segments are dominant — are more prone to certain kinds of illnesses. But more important is what the residents there do when they get sick. more

Tags: client experience, dental experience, human interaction, patient experience, practice management
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Dental Shortage in the Heartland

Posted on: April 10th, 2012 by admin No Comments

This is such an amazing story that I felt compelled to share it. The description of how people in the heartland are experiencing a shortage of dental care contrasts and focuses the reality that running a dental practice is still a small business and one needs to be able to make the finances work before just hanging a shingle. What this story doesn’t mention is the lifestyle pull for young dentists to larger cities and communities and away from rural ones in spite of the ability to make a good income in small towns. Bottomline, this piece really makes one think about the state of dental care in the US and the various forces driving it.

In Kansas, No Consensus On How To End ‘Dental Deserts’

by Bryan Thompson, Kansas Public Radio

This story is part of a reporting partnership that includes Kansas Public Radio, Kaiser Health News and NPR.

In an ongoing disagreement over how to solve dental care access problems in Kansas, there is one thing no one disputes: the great need.

That need was on display in February when the Kansas Dental Charitable Foundation held its eleventh free clinic of the past decade. Known as the Kansas Mission of Mercy, the clinic was staffed by volunteer dentists in a vacant Walmart store in Kansas City.

Organizer Greg Hill said that patients began arriving at 8 p.m. the night before the clinic opened. They were able to spend the night inside the store. “By 5:30 a.m., there were 1,200 people in the building,” Hill said. More

Tags: client experience, customer experience, customer service, dental experience, dental practice marketing, human interaction, marketing, practice management, sales
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Tips to Keep Your Team Happy

Posted on: April 6th, 2012 by admin No Comments

Here is a great blog post I found that quickly summarizes seven of the most important things a small business owner can do to help keep the team happy and productive. As we all struggle to make sure those that work for us are not only keeping our clients happy and being productive, but are also being fulfilled and happy with their own careers, this helps crystalize things. I hope you enjoy!

7 Secrets to Keeping Your Employees Happy

Barry Moltz Small Business Speaker, Consultant, and Author

April 3, 2012

Many small business owners become entrepreneurs in their pursuit of happiness. Being their own boss and proving their idea can work is a big source of satisfaction for many of them.

Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project, knows a lot about what makes business people happy. She spent a year test-driving conventional wisdom, current scientific studies, and lessons from pop cultures about how to be happier at work and at life. more

Tags: happy employees, human interaction, managing employees, practice management
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Do You Sell Your Services?

Posted on: April 4th, 2012 by admin No Comments

There is an interesting discussing currently occurring in one of the groups I participate in on LinkedIn about whether a dentist should hire staff that, in addition to their technical skills, are skilled in sales. I find this interesting from the aspect of a dental office designer for I contend that if the proper tools are in place there is no need to “sell” or persuade a patient to act on a defined course of treatment. What do I mean by tools?

Everyone has heard the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, with today’s technology it is easy to show a patient what is going on inside the patient’s mouth. The technology also makes it fairly easy to demonstrate through computer models what the inside of the patient’s mouth is going to look like post treatment. I contend that if the patient is shown, in a comfortable, non-threatening environment, the facts and the course of treatment is clearly explained then there is no “selling” that has to take place.

What do I mean by a comfortable, non-threatening environment? Get the patient up out of the exam chair and into a consultation room that is comfortable, attractive, and professional. Present the plan at eye level, seated next to the patient so that the presenter and patient are on an equal level and no one is in a power position higher or over the patient. Even if the treatment is going to occur the same day, unless it is an emergency, have the respect and courtesy to move the patient out of the exam chair and into a consultation room where the facts can be presented, the treatment plan can be discussed, and if need be, payment terms can be arranged. Then, when the patient returns to the chair everyone is relaxed and comfortable with the decisions that have been made and no one should be anxious about what is about to occur. This is important – no one feels like they’ve been pressured or forced to just take someone’s word on what is going on!

What about cosmetic or elective procedures? Well, here a bit more salesmanship might be in order, but again a picture is worth a thousand words. Showing the patient, a before and after picture will do wonders toward alleviating any anxiety about whether they should move forward with the procedure. Since the treatment is elective and typically for vanity reasons, the patient should be made to feel comfortable in surroundings commensurate with the planned procedure. Think day spa. Someone is more likely to have high-end treatments done in a spa that feels luxurious rather than common or sterile. If your dental office is offering high-end cosmetic procedures then the dental office design better be communicating luxury to your patients rather than institutional health care.

Tags: branding, client experience, customer service, dental design, dental experience, dental office, dental office branding, dental office design, dental office interior design, dental sales, marketing, patient experience, practice management, sales
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Ah, Sun!

Posted on: April 2nd, 2012 by admin No Comments

I feel so much better when it is sunny. I joke with my friends that I’m like a flower, drawn to the sun’s warming rays. Perhaps it is because I live in a place that only has 88 sunny days per year on average according to the US National Climatic Data Center, that I respond so obviously, and positively, to the sun. I definitely feel brighter, cheerier, and more energized when it is sunny.

As a dental office designer this can pose a problem for operatories. On the one hand I want to put in large windows that allow for great views, assuming there are great views, and plenty of sunlight. What better way to make patients feel better than to be able to enjoy a great vista and plenty of natural sunshine while receiving their treatment? On the other hand, I am very conscious of the need to tightly control the light in the room with the proper color (Kelvin) lamps (bulbs) so that a patient’s teeth are properly color matched and they walk out looking natural rather than like some kind of freak of nature. Oh, the challenges we face and trade-offs that must be made.

In general, provided there is something worth looking at outside the operatory walls I default in favor of abundant sunshine and work through other means to balance the lighting in the operatory. If the scene outside is of nothing more exciting than asphalt, well, a little sunshine can do wonders and bring on the TV monitors!

Tags: client experience, customer experience, dental design, dental interior design, dental office, dental office design, dental office interior design, lighting design, office design, patient experience
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