“I was so fortunate to find a location to rent right off the Roanoke greenway, and in a vibrant area of Roanoke, Virginia,” Dr. Thorn said. “I coordinated the build out with my husband and contractor while we negotiated the rental agreement. I worked as an associate at an office out of town, so I was fortunate that Brad was able to meet with the architects, engineers and sub-contractors for me while I continued patient care.”
From a construction standpoint, she noted that she and her husband worked around constraints of the space like load bearing block walls and concrete floors that needed to be trenched to run plumbing. “Those aspects were challenging, but easily navigable with a skilled contractor,” she said. “In terms of design, I wanted to make sure the space was highly functional within the constraints of where we were able to build treatment suites and the sterilization and laboratory areas. I’m left-handed, so I needed suites that could easily convert between right- and left-handed practitioners. We used carts on the back wall that roll with handles rather than fixed cabinetry so the room could be readjusted to my assistants’ and my needs. In the sterilization and laboratory area, we implemented extra shelving between the cabinets to hold lab cases and tip-out bins for organization of stocked goods. I am most proud of how we fit everything we need to stock and store in the space without it looking cluttered or cramped.”
The Thorns were able to efficiently lay out a practice with four operatories, a consult room, an office, a reception area, a utility area, an equipment room, and two ADA-compliant restrooms into a 1,975 square foot space.
“The design objective for LAT Dentistry was to create an environment that reflected our mission, vision, and culture,” Dr. Thorn said. “At LAT Dentistry, our mission is to provide quality, comprehensive dental care to our patients in a judgment-free way that leaves everyone feeling inspired, promotes wellness and improves quality of life. This means that we needed a space with bright light and a vibrant sense of life. So, we chose colors of curry, forest green, arctic white and fox brown with a live plant wall to top it off.”
The bright light in the operatories illuminate the curry-colored leather massaging dental chairs and live plants throughout the space. Waterfalls grace each operatory to absorb noise and provide a quiet ambiance. The IT layout with overhead TVs, two 12 o’clock monitors and corner monitors at the foot of the chair in addition to Bluetooth headphones give patients plenty of options for education and relaxation. Patients can enjoy spa-like amenities like soft blankets and memory foam pillows to improve their comfort.
Dr. Thorn says her favorite space is the reception area. “The lighting in combination with the beautiful plant wall makes it very inviting,” she said. “I like to do my administrative work sitting up there because it is so nice. I do also love the massage feature in the chairs in each treatment suite along with the waterfalls in the rooms. The energy in the treatment rooms is calming, which is great for patients as well as for myself and my team.”
An important part of LAT Dentistry’s culture is to practice in environmentally friendly ways with sustainable materials to make a positive impact on the community and on the environment. Dr. Thorn did extensive research on opportunities to lower the practice’s environmental footprint and chose to as many multi-use, sterilizable items as possible, and to use biodegradable items where possible to minimize waste. The office’s efficient storage design reduces de-gloving and incorporating a digital scanner also reduces waste.
“I’ve found that single use plastics are highly pervasive in medical care. I implemented as many sterilizable items as possible where I can in place of single-use items. Where we do have to use single-use items, I’ve sourced items made of recycled plastics or degradable materials where possible. I found bio-nitrile gloves that break down in a landfill in 1.5 years rather than 100+ years. I implemented a dry vacuum system that conserves thousands of gallons of water monthly compared to traditional vacuum systems. We eliminated chemicals that remain in the environment permanently such as cold sterilization solutions and we switched our cleaning agents to ones that break down and are environmentally friendly.”
Dr. Thorn’s advice to colleagues considering a remodel project is to carefully consider their needs for storage, workflow in the operatory and workflow around the building and to ask teams member who work in sterilization or central Xray for pain points and workflow ideas.
The bottom line for Dr. Thorn is that patients love coming to the practice.
“We get a lot of comments from patients about the feeling they get from being in our space,” she said. “They feel relaxed and happy to come to our office, in fact we often have families and children who are excited to come visit us. We have had overwhelmingly positive feedback about the office, which I am so proud of.”
