Mauna Family Dental: ADA Design Innovation Award winner

By Kelly Ganski

“This is the most depressing office I’ve ever seen.”

When Khealynn Harris, D.M.D., walked into a dental practice for sale in Hilo, Hawaii, in 2021, her first thought was, “No.” The practice was healthy with plenty of patients and a wonderful staff but paper charts overwhelmed the space, the walls were dark and the carpet was old.

“The fact that I didn’t want to purchase the practice after seeing it, I thought it has to go,” Dr. Harris said. “We knew right away this place needed a facelift. This was the DIY project of the century.”

Dr. Harris remodeled that “depressing” dental practice into one that’s light, airy and takes advantage of the gorgeous Hawaiian views.

Mauna Family Dental was the runner-up of the Remodel category in the 2023 ADA Design Innovation Awards competition. The annual competition showcases the best dental practices in esthetic appeal, function and design. Judges from the ADA Council on Dental Practice narrowed down entries to the top three in each category. From Oct. 1-31, voting was open to the dental community.

The remodeled waiting room at Mauna Family Dental features lighter tones and a more airy feel.

Prior to the remodel, the waiting room was a darker, more closed off space.

Gone are the dark wood cabinets and floors in favor of lighter walls and floors in the new operatory spaces.

Patients could expected a dated operatory prior to the remodel.

Practice owner Khealynn Harris, D.M.D., created a new staff lounge in the remodel.

The previous staff lounge was crowded, cluttered and more of a space for the slew of paper patient records.

The new reception area allows the dental team much more space to work and interact with patients.

The reception area before the remodel was cluttered, boxy and featured lots of wood.

Dr. Harris, who attended Roseman University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine in Utah, moved to Hawaii from Washington state “in search of sunshine with my family.” A community health center in Hilo hired her and paid for her to move to the Big Island. It was a two-year contract, and she and her husband thought it would be a fun life experiment.

Spoiler alert: at the end of the two years, they fell in love with the island and felt it was truly their home. So they decided to stay. But if Dr. Harris wanted to move into private practice, she would have had to take a licensure exam, which she would have needed time to prepare for. This all happened during the pandemic, so she decided to extend her community health clinic contract for one year and start hunting for a practice to purchase.

The location of the practice she ultimately purchased couldn’t be beat, maybe a mile from the ocean and a clear view from the windows. But you can’t see the beautiful view of the ocean and cruise ships if all of the windows are closed with the curtains shut.

“I was like, ‘I’m ripping out all these shades,’” Dr. Harris said. “I need my environment to be very uplifting.”

She purchased the office in September 2021 and despite her disdain for the aesthetics, worked there for two months. She planned to close the office for two weeks around Thanksgiving and do something pretty bold.

“We decided to flip it in two weeks.”

Dr. Harris and her husband ripped down the curtains, pulled up the floors and knocked down the walls. She flew her cousin to Hawaii to do all of the electrical work. Her friend did the plumbing. Dr. Harris was not only the owner dentist, she was the general contractor.

They turned a giant storage closet into an operatory and added an additional operatory. She purchased her cabinets from Home Depot, tearing them apart to make them fit into the space she had. They put up a pony wall to turn one area into a hygiene room, installed a staff kitchen and lounge and turned another closet into a surgical suite that has a view of Mauna Kea, a volcano on the island.

“Lots of late nights, sweat and tears went into this office makeover, and we are so proud of the result,” Dr. Harris said. “Every patient is like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe this is the same place.’”

The 2024 Design Innovation Awards are sponsored by ADA Member Advantage and Panacea Financial. The call for entries for the 2024 competition will open in June. Do you have a winning practice? Stay tuned for updates.