Tips for Designing a Dental Practice Reception and Waiting Room
Most people dread going for a dental check-up and feel quite nervous. After all, getting your mouth poked around by someone is far from a comfortable experience. So, it is essential to have a reception area that has a calming effect.
The problem is that most dental clinics end up with cold and traditional reception areas that make the patients feel even more nervous. This is because much of the focus of a dental clinic design remains on the interior. However, the reception or waiting area is equally important as it sets the patients’ expectations for the rest of the clinic.
Therefore, it’s imperative for dentists to design the reception and waiting area keeping in mind the patients’ comfort. So, here are a few tips that will help you design an efficient and comfortable reception or waiting area for your patients and visitors.
Tips for Designing a Reception or Waiting Area
If done correctly, the design of your dental clinic can have a critical impact on the overall waiting room experience of your patients. This can prove immensely beneficial for your dental clinic from a marketing viewpoint. Remember, happy patients are also your biggest promoters.
And while you can always go in multiple directions with your dental clinic reception design, keeping a few points in mind will simplify the design process to a great extent. So, here are a few points to keep in mind while designing your dental clinic’s reception or waiting area.
1. Go for a Convenient Layout
People usually prefer to sit away from each other every time they walk into the reception or waiting room of a dental clinic. But if the waiting area is too cramped with chairs, getting space from other patients and their relatives could be difficult.
So, arrange your reception or waiting area in a way that gives patients clear access to the receptionist’s desk as well as the examination room. Also, bear the high-traffic walkways in mind and keep these clear so that your patients don’t find the room too cluttered or claustrophobic.
While planning the reception layout for Smile for Life dental clinic, we, at Divo Interiors, ensured that there was ample area left for people to move around. Also, the seats for visitors we arranged in a manner that they weren’t too bothered with the ongoing operations at the clinic.
2. Get Your Colour Scheme Right
Remember, one of your main goals as a dentist other than treating your patients is to relieve them of their fears and tension. To that end, going for soothing wall colours can brighten the place and turn it into a much more attractive location to visit.
Also, since the waiting and reception areas need to be warm and inviting, it’s advisable to use colours with lower temperatures such as yellowish warm colours.
This is exactly what we did while designing the reception area for Complete Smiles. While we used white colour as the major colour theme for the reception area, we also infused it with blue colour owing to the high aesthetic value of this colour combination. We also added ceiling lanterns as the incorporation of artwork and upholstery helped ensure continuity within this scheme.
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3. Keep the Lighting in Mind
The lighting in your clinic’s reception and waiting area can go a long way in setting your patients’ moods. Most patients find a dark waiting room quite depressing. Therefore, while designing your reception and waiting area, avoid using stark strip lighting as it’s cold and tends to make the patients edgy. You can instead go for bright and warm lighting that can keep the reception and waiting area bright, cosy, and welcoming at the same time.
This approach with regard to lighting came in quite handy for us while designing the reception and waiting room for Muswell-based Perfect Smile. The use of recessed lights in the reception area not only ensured that the place was well-lit but also took the overall aesthetics of the area several notches higher.
You must also avoid putting heavy binds on the windows if you have the luxury of light through windows. You can instead go for opaque screens if you seek privacy as they allow the light to permeate through the glass.
4. Focus on The Reception Desk
The reception desk is the first thing that your patients would see when they walk into your dental clinic. Thus, your reception desk must look attractive and aesthetic. To that end, choose a desk design that is in sync with your dental clinic’s overall theme. That’s precisely what we did while designing the reception desk for Baker Street-based Bond Dental Clinic. The white reception desk was completely in line with the white theme of the clinic.
Also, the reception desk was so designed that it has sufficient room to store files and other things and keep them out of sight. Moreover, it was high enough to hide telephones, computer monitors, printers, and faxes.
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5. Bring in Some Comfortable Furniture
There is no bigger turn-off than waiting in a reception area, sitting on hard and uncomfortable seats, especially when someone is already feeling uneasy due to a toothache or a cavity.
So, spare a thought for your dental clinic furniture design and consider arranging some comfortable chairs and sofas as we did in the case of Harrow-based Complete Smiles Dental Surgery. But deep chairs and comfortable banquette seating could also be great options if your waiting area doesn’t have adequate room for sofas.
Make sure that the material and style of your waiting room furniture are in line with the rest of the reception area. Consider artwork, plants, and rich wood furniture to make the space look a bit more aesthetic and expensive.
Bottom Line
You must understand the purpose of your reception and waiting room so that you don’t tread in the wrong direction while brainstorming for ideas. Also, you don’t have to spend a fortune on your reception and waiting room design. Remember that your patients only want a moment of peace before their dental appointment, so overspending on your reception and waiting room wouldn’t make any sense.
Most importantly, always hire a professional interior designer to renovate or refurbish your reception and waiting room as they can ensure that you get the overall decor and furniture right. To that end, Divo Interiors can offer premium dental clinic interior design services that can help you set up a professional and effective dental practice.
Author Bio
UV Jadeja
UV Jadeja, the head honcho atDivo Interiors LTDin London, has spent a significant number of years in the commercial fit-out and refurbishment industry, specialising in dental practices. Under his leadership, the company has designed and renovated clinics of some of the most well-known dental practices in the country. He often shares his insights & extensive industry knowledge with the general public through engaging blog posts.
