Each year, thousands of design pros unite to discuss the latest research, trends, and strategies with peers and experts at the Healthcare Design Expo & Conference. Our CenterPoint Design team at Benco Dental attends annually and gains inspiration and new ideas for current and future dental practice projects. At the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana in November, I was able to participate at #HCDcon and today I’ll share a few ideas to provide #MondayMotivation for dental practices.

2 incredible dental office design ideas from HCDcon

  • Consider pastel and jewel tones. Pastel tones were featured at almost every booth that I visited. Light blue, sage green, lilac, and blush were the most common. A combination of the rich jewel tones with the light pastels (shown at top) created a great contrast and balance within the collections. Jewel tones most commonly featured were eggplant, emerald, and navy green.
Pastel tones (shown) took center stage at the Healthcare Design Expo in New Orleans. Shown are some vinyl options from Architex.
Patcraft flooring, Mark Making, shown, was created by a designer known for her watercolors. She used repetitive stokes to create this pattern.
  • Plan for future modifications with your current choices. Dental practices and hospitals can take months — or years –to build, and by that time new products and equipment needs to be incorporated into the space. Herman Miller (below), Kimball Health, and Steelcase Health all showed this trend with products to fit the new innovations that doctors and facilities are looking to incorporate. How do you prepare for continued innovation within the healthcare industry? Consider innovative practice designs. Herman Miller bonus: This Benco Dental vendor offers the ability to pattern match in two ways. They insure a pattered fabric is exactly lined up on the seams and can also pattern match so that the fabric is at the exact same place from chair to chair.
Herman Miller offers modifiable products to accommodate the innovations that doctors are looking to incorporate at their practices.
Herman Miller, above, offers the ability to pattern match in two ways. They insure a pattered fabric is exactly lined up on the seams and can also pattern match so that the fabric is at the exact same place from chair to chair.
Let’s talk textiles. Architex showed beautiful vinyl options (shown, above).

What other people are doing in the dental profession?

  • Focusing on the user experience. Incorporating similarities across multiple offices such as using the same equipment, colors, and scheme will make the patient feel comfortable. Including signature elements that repeat, such as check-in stations.
  • Addressing the generational divide. Create a space that attracts multiple generations at one practice.

Ready for more #MondayMotivation?

View more from the conference here. Watch for an update after the next Expo, which will take place November 7-10, 2020 in Nashville, TN.
Me taking in the New Orleans scene at Healthcare Design Expo & Conference #HCDcon