"How big should my dental office be? "
It’s one of the most common—and most expensive—questions dentists ask when planning a new practice or expansion. And it’s also one of the most misunderstood.
The truth is, this question has two very different answers, and confusing them can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Let’s break it down clearly.
The Two Questions Every Dentist Is Really Asking
When dentists ask how big their office should be, they’re actually asking:
1. How much space is required per treatment room?
This is a math problem.
We call it room yield
And second, how many treatment rooms should I have? That is a business decision.
2. How many treatment rooms should I have?
This is a business decision.
This article answers Question #1 completely.
Question #2 deserves its own deep discussion—a conversation we have daily with doctors.
The Traditional Rule (And Why It’s So Expensive)
For decades, dental office design has followed this rule of thumb:
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450 sq ft per operatory = minimum
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500 sq ft per operatory = optimal
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550 sq ft per operatory = “ADA-compliant” assumption
By that logic:
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A 10-chair practice requires 5,500 sq ft
(This is what we all too commonly see proposed. Too much wasted space. BTW: We had nothing to do with this plan!)
The Lean Reality: You Don’t Need That Much Space
Well over two decades ago, our company set out to debunk these convenient measurements using Lean Principles. For over two decades, Design Ergonomics has successfully produced comfortable and highly productive offices with rooms averages of less than 350 feet.
This saves doctors hundreds of thousands of dollars in space and equipment costs (sometimes millions in larger offices), and it makes it possible for startup doctors to find spaces within their budget.
So Why Do Most Architects Still Design Bigger Offices?
You will discover that it is largely due to convenience and inefficiency factors for the designer! It's much easier for an architect to design with a 500-foot yield than to more carefully consider a compact and efficient configuration. Unfortunately, people tend to want to do what's convenient. Making a great office, not wasting space, AND having it feel spacious yet efficient, is actually very difficult!
So Why are Smaller Dental Offices Are Actually More Productive?
In order to explain this, it is most practical to use an analogy. PLUMBING!
Most dental offices function like sewer systems. There isn't that much stuff passing through. It's intermittent. And it moves slowly. You need a big pipe for that! Think large amount of space needed to handle all of this waste! Most dental offices are slow, inefficient, lumbering, Leviathans! Think sewer plumbing.
The typical office is designed with too much storage where it is not necessary and becomes disorganized. This disrupts flow.
Too much space leads to:
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Excess storage
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Disorganization
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More steps
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More motion
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More stress
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Lower productivity
What Lean Dentistry Changes
In this case, we’re talking about waste of time, labor, and materials. By reorganizing dentistry utilizing Toyota lean principles over 30 years ago, we were able to focus on Flow. Flow is actually a rather complex concept. Admittedly, it is estimated that Toyota spent over $30 billion in its first three decades, refining it to become the dominant player in their industry. It’s a position that they've maintained for decades.
For the past 25+ years, we’ve applied those same principles to dentistry.
The results:
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Higher quality care
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Lower stress teams
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Dramatically improved productivity
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Faster treatment cycles
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Less wasted motion, time, and space
This reduces the requirements for space to:
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Urban practices: ~300 sq ft per operatory
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Startups planning to grow: ~330 sq ft per operatory
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Legacy / best-in-class practices: ~350 sq ft per operatory
Floor Plan for a highly compact urban office
Blocking Diagram for a space-efficient startup
A state-of-the-art legacy practice dental Floor Plan
*Images not to scale*
The Forever Competitive Advantage
Think about it this way:
This revolution creates a sustainable competitive advantage against future competition for practitioners who can embrace and understand these principles!
If the dentist down the street:
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Uses 50% more space
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Spends 40% more on equipment
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Produces half as much
You don’t just win today. You win forever.
Lower overhead + higher productivity = a sustainable competitive advantage no competitor can easily copy.
If you have any questions, please reach out to our team. We've helped thousands of dentists to create thriving dental practices that they are proud to own and work in every day. We can evaluate any existing plan that you have and, if needed, help to coordinate the creation of an “as built” plan with you that will serve as the foundation for your dream dental office design.
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