OVER THE COURSE OF only three months, Dr. Shane Costa created an Ashburn, Virginia, practice that spurs what he calls “wow moments” in patients daily.

Such moments start at the front door, says Dr. Costa, one of Incisal Edge’s “40 Under 40” dentists in 2015, of his 3,000-square-foot space. “We carry that into the treatment bays with an open floor plan. It’s hard to be nervous about dentistry when your surroundings are encouraging you to sit back and enjoy.”

What animated his ideas? The fact that he grew up at a time when all dental practices looked the same, he says. His priority: differentiation. “Once I started envisioning this practice, I knew I wanted anything but a typical setting. My first desire was for it to be modern, but I knew it needed to be so much more.”

Confidence in his concept helped Dr. Costa stay the course, even when choosing the bold color palette, which is dominated by the lime green you see here. “We’re not a ‘beige’ group,” he says matter-of-factly. “I wanted open, light, modern and futuristic, but not cold or metallic. While the vision of how I wanted the practice to look was important, the design itself was intended to be a play on emotion: what you see and how it translates to how you feel.”

The result: what he calls “a visual journey from the time you walk in to the time you check out.” He adds, “We wanted a fluidity to the practice’s flow. Whether someone is walking to the treatment bay, the sedation room or the offices, we wanted to build excitement about what could be behind that curved wall or around that corner. We were then able to apply the color scheme to complement movement throughout.”

Assisting him in those tasks were Virginia Costa, his wife of 12 years, and the design team at Zoom Interiors. Every day, he says, his patients convince him that their decisions were right on the money.

“I really had no idea how well-received the practice would be,” says Dr. Costa, a graduate of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry. “Obviously we hoped everyone would like it, but we were shocked when the reviews started rolling in. Patients have a hard time
deciding what they like best: the colors, the modernity, the TV s, the iPads, the seating. It’s a home run on all fronts.”