The Dental Office
- Introduction
The design of a dental office must be carried out in a functional, aesthetic and comfortable way. This will generate a productive practice.
An ergonomic office allows people to move around without obstacles both in the clinical and paraclinical area to access the various equipment and materials, and in the administrative reception and waiting area.
- The first step in designing a dental office will be for the practitioner and his team:
- To determine the type of exercise desired
- To consider the surface area available for the office.
- Current elements involved in the architectural design of the dental office: several elements.
- Development of new technologies: management IT, digital radiology, intra-oral camera, lasers, etc. 🡪 It is necessary to provide a network of integrated cables adapted to functional use.
- Aseptic and sterilization measures: Aseptic measures, infection control and sterilization are an integral part of our practice: the sterilization room is the “heart” of the clinical area and is the “showcase” of the practice.
- Communication must be ensured by the secretary.
- Distribution of spaces:
There are five considerations to keep in mind:
1- The needs of the dental surgeon, his team and the patient
2- The journeys of the dental surgeon, his team and the patient
3- Areas to be placed adjacently, as a priority
4- The size and location of the different equipment
5- The space required in each room for comfortable and efficient use of each area.
- Each person must be able to move around with a minimum distance and the practitioner and his assistant must reach the equipment and materials as easily as possible.
- The different parts of the office:
The minimum parts for any minimal cabinet installation are:
- Waiting room (WA)
- Secretariat (S)
- Two operating rooms (OR)
- Sterilization room (STE)
- Sanitary facilities
- When the surface area allows it, we can add:
- A private office
- An engine room,
- A storage area,
- A kitchen rest area,
- A laboratory,
- Toilets for staff.
- Determination of functional areas
Very simply, the office is divided into two distinct areas:
- Clinical and paraclinical area
- Administrative, reception and rest area.
- The clinical and paraclinical zone will itself be subdivided into active zone and semi-active zone.
- The administrative reception and rest area will also be divided into a semi-active zone and a passive zone.
We then define 3 functional zones: active, semi-active and passive.
- Active area: The place with the greatest activity in the office, it is the real production unit, it includes:
- Operating rooms,
- The sterilization room,
- The radio room and the dark room,
- The lab and the technical room (compressor, suction motor and air conditioning motor).
The STE is the nerve center of the active zone.
- Semi-active zone: Activity is less intense and less stressful.
- Semi-active paraclinical area: office where patients are received, a storage room and a prevention and information room.
- Administrative semi-active area: secretariat: plays a central role in the communication system of the entire office. It should be located as centrally as possible.
- Passive zone: This is the area with the least possible activity. It allows you to sit and rest. It is composed of a reception and waiting room and a personal rest room.
- Route analysis :
The compulsory courses must have the following fundamental characteristics:
- As linear as possible,
- Not to come back on themselves,
- To go through the most easily accessible areas,
- Not to cross paths,
- For the practitioner, avoid the trap zone (secretariat).
- Sterilization room:
Currently, the requirements for asepsis are higher in the face of AIDS and viral hepatitis.
Goals :
- Hygiene,
- Communication and
- Rational organization.
🡪 Hygiene: optimal level of sterilization of instruments: fundamental goal of the STE. It is also necessary to prevent the risks of injury to the assistant.
The appearance of AIDS and viral hepatitis requires us to have extremely rigorous respect for hygiene in addition to the quality of care and reception.
– It will be glazed to actually control the sterilization of the instruments. The STE must be easily identifiable with its specific logo in order to prevent the particular risks of contamination existing in this room.
- Communication: The dental practice is our “business card”.
– A good functional implementation is, of course, the basis for a correct approach to daily practice.
– In the dental office, two senses are particularly anxiety-provoking for the patient:
• hearing (turbine, suction, ultrasound, etc.),
• smell (Eugenol, resin, etc.).
- Rational organization: the STE allows the assistant to sterilize the instruments without haste and in a logical order:
Fewer unnecessary gestures and therefore no bacterial mixing and no risk of injury.
- Equipment and materials:
1 – Armchair and unit: it is essential to plan their location before any development. They require a powerful electrical line and a water supply as well as a drain.
2 – Radio equipment: safety constraints:
- Protected installation of an electric line directly to the meter.
- Insulation of the room walls with 2 mm thick lead sheets.
3 – The sterilizer: autoclave or chemiclave: electrical constraints and extinguisher
4 – The compressor: this is the “lung” of the office. It supplies compressed air to all the rotating instruments.
5 – The suction system: the use of high-power surgical suction saves time and improves hygiene at the workstation.
- Conclusion :
A dental office designed in compliance with ergonomic rules and organized around the people who work there daily as well as around the patients who visit it. Rigor in the planning, design and implementation of an office is simply the essential step in the success of the office.
The Dental Office
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