Dental offices are busy, high-tech environments, but too often, they’re also cluttered, inefficient, and stressful for both teams and patients. In a new episode of The Mediocre Dentist, Design Ergonomics CEO Dr. David Ahearn joins hosts Dr. Dave Becker and Dr. Andrea Doniski to tackle a blunt truth:
Dental offices are a mess, and it’s not the team’s fault. The conversation dives into why modern dentistry has outgrown old layouts, how technology gets “layered on” without rethinking workflow, and what smarter workflow and operatory design can do to improve efficiency and patient experience.
Listen / Watch
What Dr. Ahearn shares in this episode
1) Why dentistry gets messy (even in great practices)
Dr. Ahearn explains that many dental offices were originally designed for a much simpler era, when the procedure mix was limited. Today, practices juggle a large range of services and technologies (from implants and endo to scanners and in-office milling). The result?
Technology gets added… but the room doesn’t evolve with it.
2) The “layering” problem
When tools and devices don’t have a purposeful home, they land where they can: countertops. Over time, that visual clutter impacts:
-
patient perception (“this feels chaotic”)
-
staff efficiency (extra steps, extra reaching, extra setup time)
-
consistency across rooms (nothing is where you expect it)
3) Rapid deployment: converting rooms fast without chaos
Designing systems so a room can quickly shift from one procedure to another, without lengthy setup or piling more “stuff” into the operatory.
%20(648%20x%20324%20px)-1.png?width=648&height=324&name=cost%20pyramid%20featured%20image%20(3.125%20x%201.823%20in)%20(648%20x%20324%20px)-1.png)
