Number of Ops per square foot?

[Zurik5]

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I?m getting a little ahead of myself with this, but is there a recommended number of ops per square foot for a dental office. I know six ops with one doctor is the most profitable model, but is there any correlation between op number and square footage?

 

[Zurik5]

After a little research, 300-400 sq. feet per tx room seems pretty standard. Does this seem small to anyone else?

 

[tinker bell]

Not sure, but it must be large. Let say it's 400 sq ft/ rm. Then 6 rooms= 2400 sqft. Plus lab + front desk area + storage. Dr's office, staff's room. Then the whole office would come up to at least 3000 sq ft. That's a lot.

 

[ItsGavinC]

I know six ops with one doctor is the most profitable model...

I don't think that is always the case, although it may be true most of the time. There are a lot of variables to throw in there. I mean that if somebody buys into the "most profitable" routine, then they have to buy into it fully and completely or else it won't be most profitable. Obviously six ops isn't the key to success alone, but in conjunction with a certain number of hygienists, assistants, good front office staff, certain equipment, patient flow/average time per visit, etc.

And in fact, unless those things are completely aligned the doctor is going to lose money. It does me no good to have six ops if I have one hygienist and I myself am slow as dirt doing procedures.

I am curious as to how big ops usually are.

 

[Zurik5]

I don't think that is always the case, although it may be true most of the time. There are a lot of variables to throw in there. I mean that if somebody buys into the "most profitable" routine, then they have to buy into it fully and completely or else it won't be most profitable. Obviously six ops isn't the key to success alone, but in conjunction with a certain number of hygienists, assistants, good front office staff, certain equipment, patient flow/average time per visit, etc.

And in fact, unless those things are completely aligned the doctor is going to lose money. It does me no good to have six ops if I have one hygienist and I myself am slow as dirt doing procedures.

I am curious as to how big ops usually are.

Thanks for the reply there, Mr. Skeptic. I was under the impression that if six ops were available, the dentist would make a boatload of money, regardless of hygienists 😉 You?re right though; there are a lot of things to take into consideration when deciding what makes a practice profitable. How many hygienists are recommended per op?

 

[UBTom]

At my dental school, our ops are about 150 square feet apiece (10ft x 15ft). The biggest drawback is lack of storage space, but I guess in dental school that is not necessary because all the consumable supplies are at the dispensary counter.

I would be comfortable with a 200 square feet operatory in private practice, with plenty of cabinet and counter space.

400ft^2 is overkill-- It's HUGE! (think 20ft x 20ft room).

For a single dentist, 3 operatories should be OK. You can be working on a patient and your hygienist on another one and still have one more chair to spare (which an assistant can be setting up and be ready for the next patient so you can jump right in).

HTH!

 

[Dr.SpongeBobDDS]

Doesn't matter how many ops you have if you don't have paying patients sitting in them all day long. Not many practices can fill 6 chairs and not all dentists can work 6 chairs even if they are lucky enough to have the patients. 🙂

 

[templedentist]

After a little research, 300-400 sq. feet per tx room seems pretty standard. Does this seem small to anyone else?

Small, are you kidding me. Get a tape measure and measure this out and you tell me if it is small. If you are going to move in a couch, entertainment center and home gym along with the dental chair and supplies then it MIGHT start to feel a little cramped. Wow you people need to do some research or thinking before you post. I could run laps in a room that big while I am waiting for the amalgam to set. Hmmmm, that is a good idea.

 

[Zurik5]

Small, are you kidding me. Get a tape measure and measure this out and you tell me if it is small. If you are going to move in a couch, entertainment center and home gym along with the dental chair and supplies then it MIGHT start to feel a little cramped. Wow you people need to do some research or thinking before you post. I could run laps in a room that big while I am waiting for the amalgam to set. Hmmmm, that is a good idea.

Fair enough, thanks for the reply..

 

[aphistis]

Fair enough, thanks for the reply..

Personally, I'm incredibly impressed by anybody who can fit more than one operatory into a square foot. That's some efficient use of space. 😉

 

[Zurik5]

Personally, I'm incredibly impressed by anybody who can fit more than one operatory into a square foot. That's some efficient use of space. 😉

Yah, I got served. So much for asking creative questions about things I have no idea about?.

 

[ItsGavinC]

Yah, I got served. So much for asking creative questions about things I have no idea about?.

It was a good question. 🙂

 

[DrJeff]

Real world numbers here. I currently have a very big hole dug next to my office that is going to be an addition of 4 operatories and a staff kitchen/break room. The addition is going to be 48' by 15' (720 sq. feet). This addition will include 4 operatories that will be as following 15' x 10', 3 operatories of 11' x 10' a break room of 8' x 15' and a hallway. The 11' x 10' ops are the same size as my existing 5, and they are quite spacious for me, my patient, my assistant and ample cabinetry (it gets a little "cozy" if parents or family members want to also be in the ops (this in turn makes them feel guilty about being in there and they'll often leave and go back into the waiting room )

When the additon is done, it will give the office a total of 2320 sq. feet on the main floor and an additonal 1600 sq.feet of auxillary office space/storage space in the basement (we currently utilize about 1000 sq. feet in the basement). That 2320 sq. feet will be be comprised of 8 ops (I know if you do the math from my earlier numbers it would seem like I have 9 ops, but 1 op is being converted from an op to my office (it would be a really dark room with limited sunlight after the renovation, so me my partner and a couple of Dells will go in there)), a waiting room, an office, an entry alcove, a dark room, a restroom, a laboratory, a sterilization "suite" (the en vogue term to call it these days 😉 ), a panorex alcove, and 3 assorted storage areas/closests. Throw in a couple a hundred sq. feet of hallways and thats the joint.

We feel very comfortable witht he size of the rooms, and prior to deciding on doing the addition my partner and I looked at a few properties that would have given us 1 level with 3000 to 3300 sq. feet and after crunching the numbers it just didn't make financial sense.