The dental office

The dental office

The design of a dental office must be carefully studied to allow the dental team to work while respecting ergonomics and hygiene and asepsis conditions.

2.  The rooms of the dental office:

The dental office is made up of different rooms, some of which are essential and others optional.

1. The secretariat (reception):
2. The waiting room
3. The toilets
4. The operating room
5. The sterilization room
6. The engine room
7. The X-ray room

Annexes: The laboratory, The staff rest room

3.  The layout of the dental office:

-Schematically, a dental practice must be divided into two distinct areas:

• An administrative area: reception and waiting area which houses the secretariat, the waiting room and the patient toilets
• A clinical and paraclinical area: including the other rooms.

-This physical separation allows us to respect hygiene standards and ergonomic principles

Zone 1:

-The secretariat: The reception desk must be welcoming, modern, well lit and directly visible from the entrance.

• The waiting room: must be:
  • Comfortable and allow the patient to relax,
  • Clean and easy to maintain,
  • away from operating rooms and machines,
  • calm with a warm atmosphere.
  • It will be important to have a variety of recent and well-organized magazines that will help patients avoid getting bored.
  • Can serve as an information point (meaningful poster, possibly informative television)
• Sanitary facilities: The cleanliness of these places must be constantly maintained at the risk of altering

the image of the office. It is best to have one for patients and another inside the clinical area, for staff.

Zone 2:

-Design of the treatment room: The treatment room must be designed taking into account the specific needs related to the practice of dental surgery;

• have an area between 12 and 15 m2
• The choice of furniture and equipment layout will be crucial in creating a truly ergonomic workspace.
• have a practical work area for synergy between the practitioner and the assistant,
• have direct access to the treatment room for the assistant
• easy access to the patient,
• to have sufficient work surfaces and seats
• to have access to the prosthesis laboratory, the secretariat and the radio area if necessary.
• The treatment room should be clean and simple. There should be no cluttered work surfaces.
• The treatment room should be reserved exclusively for work at

armchair. It is therefore not recommended to install other workstations there, such as the practitioner’s desk.

• Ventilation is mandatory for comfort and safety reasons.

-The practitioner’s office: an office adjoining the treatment room allows patients to be received and prevents the treatment room from being cluttered with their personal belongings. It is in the office that the practitioner takes the patient’s history before inviting them to move to the “chair”.

-sterilization room: it must be linked to the treatment room

• The room should be divided into two parts: the “dirty” part where the soiled instruments will be placed, and the “dry” part where the instruments will be checked, packaged, sterilized and stored.

-Due to humidity, heat and odors, good ventilation is essential.

-The radiology room: for regulatory and safety reasons, the walls must be lined with a layer of insulating lead, will require both digital systems with low radio emission incidence and a suitable room for its implementation (mainly for panoramic radiographs and others excluding intraoral radiographs).

•  The engine room: It houses the compressor, the suction system motor, the suppressor and possibly the generator set.

Due to the inherent noise associated with the operation of these devices, the engine room must be located in an isolated area, away from other rooms, and its access door must open to the outside. In addition, it must be well ventilated and aerated.

-The laboratory

This is where all paraclinical work is performed. Ventilation is mandatory for comfort and safety reasons. The machines housed there generate a lot of noise, so it is imperative to keep it away from operating rooms and waiting rooms.

-The staff rest room: It should allow staff to relax and chat away from patients and can also serve as a changing room.

4.  Materials used:

• All flooring in Zone 2 will be either very hard plastic flooring or tile with minimal joints.
• Surfaces and coatings must be as smooth as possible and resistant to the products used for cleaning and disinfection.
• The chair’s spittoon must be made of smooth, easy-to-clean material, with no undercut edges.
• The furniture in the sterilization room should have plenty of storage space with a maximum number of drawers. Choose a stainless steel sink, which is durable, not very fragile and easy to clean; resins can stain over time and ceramics can chip.
• Never put food in a sterilization room! (contrary to hygiene and sterilization protocols).

5.  Lighting : At work there are two types of lighting: natural and artificial,
   1. Natural lighting:
      • The location of the windows will be of capital importance, because they must allow the room to be ventilated and allow maximum benefit from daylight.
      • The office must be provided with natural light by orienting the window towards the North (non-blinding light and does not heat, constant and evenly distributed).
      • This light therefore prevents visual fatigue and adds well-being to the daily work of the dental surgeon.
   2. Artificial lighting: produced with sources placed at ceiling level
      • Incandescent sources give off light with shades of red and yellow, which creates comfort and a warm atmosphere in the office.
      • Fluorescent sources are preferred for economic reasons, as they can provide light with a spectral composition similar to natural daylight. The atmosphere created is still cold and hostile. In the activity areas of the dental office, uniform and well-distributed “daylight” type lighting is preferred.
6.  Color and decoration:

-The choice of colors takes into account their effects on the body, they are of two types; warm colors (yellow and its shades) and cold colors (blue and its shades). The choice of a color also depends on the spirit of the work team and the identity of the dental practice (orthodontics practice, periodontology practice, etc.).

-Blue is deeply relaxing and calming, making it ideal for both relaxation and intellectual work. It is suitable for ceilings because it visually enlarges the space. It can be used in operating rooms, waiting rooms, rest rooms, and secretarial offices.

-The decoration makes the office more pleasant, comfortable and welcoming.

7. Soundproofing:

There are two types of noise in the dental office:

• Noise that mainly concerns the interior of the office (Turbines, US Scaler, Suctions, Compressor, waiting room, telephone)
• Noise emitted outside the office (street, neighbors, cars) Means of protection against noise:
  • Choice of quieter machines, new rotary devices
  • Keep away from noisy machines
  • Acoustic treatment of the office using absorbent materials.

8.  The work team (the nursing staff):

For reasons of hygiene and sterilization, but also of concentration on the quality of the work carried out, which must not suffer from any external disturbance; the dentist alone cannot ensure good patient care which must be done by an entire work team (practitioner, assistant, secretary, technician, cleaning lady). The latter can include several members depending on the volume and complexity of the activity carried out, each having a mission to accomplish, a level of partial responsibility, the doctor being the bearer of

full responsibility.

9.  The dental chair : must be chosen according to 7 criteria

• Provide easy access to the patient,
• Ensure a comfortable position for the patient,
• Have a narrow, flat back,
• Have an adjustable headrest, ensuring head support,
• Digital or foot-operated electric control mechanism,
• Allow a position low enough to have the patient’s mouth at a correct height,
• Noise requirements.

10.  Four-handed work:

Simplifying work in the dental office involves a multitude of methods including:

Optimizing four-handed work. The aim of the latter is to increase both patient comfort and treatment quality , reducing not only chair time but also the stress and fatigue caused by performing complicated dental procedures.

11.  Conclusion :

An ideal office is one that offers the best conditions for the work of the nursing staff; this office must comply with ergonomic principles.

The dental office

  Wisdom teeth can cause pain if they erupt crooked.
Ceramic crowns offer a natural appearance and great strength.
Bleeding gums when brushing may indicate gingivitis.
Short orthodontic treatments quickly correct minor misalignments.
Composite dental fillings are discreet and long-lasting.
Interdental brushes are essential for cleaning narrow spaces.
A vitamin-rich diet strengthens teeth and gums.

The dental office