Answers to Your Dental Business Building Questions

For the dental entrepreneur who’s thinking of expanding their business, the opportunities are endless. But just like the wide variety of continuing education courses available to empower a practice’s patient services, transforming an office into a state-of-the-art facility—or building a new office—takes developing the know-how to grow.

To get the insight needed to make a renovation or new build a reality, begin by looking for answers to some of the top questions to help build your dental business IQ.

By collaborating with your contractor from the beginning you can determine what it is about your current dental office that needs modified. If it’s been established your practice’s overall structure is well constructed, a remodel may be the best option due to affordability, according to Bill Miller, President of W. J. Miller Builders.

“The cost of renovating is substantially less than a new build,” explains Bill. “This includes renovating an existing separate location that has good capabilities for a dental office, including street appeal and decent parking.”

Find out if you should remodel or build new by talking with the experts at Miller Builders.  Give us a call. 216.651.7795

While your contractor will help you strategize the specific plumbing, equipment and operatory design a dental office requires, there’s also a logistic formula to keep in mind when building new, according to Bill.

“If you build within three miles of your existing practice, your potential for patient loss is very little. For every five miles outside of that, it’s typically a 10 percent loss of the existing practice,” he explains. “If you’re moving the practice 20 miles, you might even lose a third of your patients.

“Once we determine the best location, we find out what the needs of that particular office will be, including how many doctors, the number of rooms and operatories and hygienists. From this, we work backward to create the building’s footprint and overall required space for plumbing and equipment.”

Staying ahead of legal building requirements is also something an experienced contractor will manage. Checking with the local government on whether you can make renovation modifications or build a newly designated footprint is required to get the building permits to move ahead—a compliance consideration your contractor should be in charge of.

While up-to-date advanced medical equipment not only improves the quality of dental care, it can also increase the efficiency and predictability of procedures. And some of the newest technology can actually be affordable, according to Joe Boris of dental research and manufacturer ACTEON.

“One type of cutting-edge technology that is a fraction of the price (compared to other technologies) and a potentially large practice builder is the Piezotome CUBE surgery unit,” states Joe. “The Piezotome allows you to atraumatically surgically remove a tooth, which adds to faster healing time. It’s also a lot gentler of an experience for the patient, and most importantly, allows the clinician to have very predictable extraction results. In turn, this leads to a clinically sound site to place an implant.”

Piezotome CUBE from ACTEON

While the Piezotome is a more expensive option compared to traditional extraction methods, it can decrease your chair time dramatically. “This technology in most cases allows the doctor to extract a tooth and place an implant in the same day,” states Joe.

A well-versed contractor can help chose the best technology to modernize your practice and meet long-term goals. “It’s very important for the builder to have conversations with the dental entrepreneur as far as how technology —and the overall renovation or build—will generate revenue and build the practice. They must have the expertise to bring it all together.”

Learn more about how Miller Builders provides cost-effective full-service construction solutions to meet your needs! Give us a call at 216.651.7795