2 Key Places for Glass Windows in Your Dental Office
If you are building a new dental office, you may be deciding on décor and looking at the most efficient layout for rooms. One aspect you shouldn't ignore during this planning period is where to place glass windows. Here are two key areas where glass windows can benefit your dental practice.
1. The Entry or Waiting Room
Glass windows can improve the aesthetics of the entry to your dental practice and improve the comfort of patients in the waiting room. Here are a few ways how.
Improved Aesthetics
Glass windows are a great way to add visual appeal to the property. In fact, dingy looking storefronts have been shown to deter customers. Although you aren't running a retail business, you are still running a business and need to attract potential patients.
Because glass windows are easy to clean, it will be easier for you to maintain good aesthetics year-round. For example, if you had a brick-and-mortar storefront, you would likely need to rent a power washer to remove embedded debris. On the other hand, you only need a vinegar-water solution and a squeegee to quickly restore a window's beauty.
Improved Patient Comfort
A Cornell study found that perceived wait time affects your patients' satisfaction more than the time they actually wait. Many people are nervous about going to the dentist, so you don't want patients waiting too long since this will give them more time to ruminate on anxieties.
Windows are a great way to add a calming effect to your waiting room. Windows make the space seem less cramped. They provide an opportunity for your patients to look at nature and lose track of time instead of focusing on what's happening inside the office.
While patients may enjoy the views your windows provide, you may be concerned about their physical comfort. After all, windows aren't exactly insulating, so the office could be too noisy, too cold, or too hot. The good news is that there are insulated windows on the market.
These insulated windows are either double or triple paned, and they are coated with a transparent glaze that reflects heat. So, your patients will maintain their comfort since these windows can dampen noise and keep indoor temperatures consistent. While insulated windows do typically cost more for installation, the costs balance out over time since these windows lower heating and cooling costs.
2. The Dental Operatories
Glass windows can benefit your staff and actually improve your accuracy during procedures that require attention to detail such as crown or bridge cases.
Improved Employee Productivity
Although dental assistants and hygienists aren't working on computers in a small cubicle, they do work mainly in small operatories. Employees can feel gloomy or fatigued if they don't get a view of the outdoors or enough natural light. Adding glass windows to each operatory can boost your employees' energy and happiness.
Furthermore, since the assistants and hygienists are looking at small details in patients' mouths, having more natural light from windows can reduce eyestrain since they won't be relying solely on overhead lighting or lights attached to dental loupes.
Improved Shade Taking During Crown or Bridge Cases
Light quality is the most important aspect when determining the correct shade for a tooth restoration. When you are matching shade guides to real teeth, artificial lighting can skew the perceived shade.
At first glance, this may not seem like a big deal, but there are hidden costs. If you are ready to seat a crown but the patient isn't happy with the color, then it needs to be sent to a dental laboratory for a remake. This means that you lose valuable chair-side time correcting the mistake instead of seeing new patients.
Although there are daylight lamps on the market that can help, it's better to have a glass windows in your operatories so that you can get good natural lighting when choosing a shade.
Before you lay the final touches on your building plans, get in touch with
Palmetto Glass & Mirror to figure out the best way to incorporate glass into your business.
