Having practiced in a leased space since his arrival in Wichita, Kan., in 2002, Terry Turner wanted something he could call his own. And he wanted it to be bigger. That’s not all, though; he wanted a practice that exuded a feeling of spaciousness.

“What we have here is totally different from what you see in your traditional dental office,” said Turner, DDS, owner of Professional Endodontics. “It’s an open look, like many practices have, but it gives the appearance of having additional space and the feeling of it too. I don’t like having that claustrophobic feeling in the operatory.”

Turner said his modern–looking practice isn’t like any in the Wichita area, and he knows because he visited plenty of practices while deciding how he wanted to design his. Nothing he saw in Wichita quite caught his eye, though, and it was a visit to A–dec’s company headquarters in Newberg, Ore., that helped shape the layout he chose.

To differentiate Professional Endodontics, Turner opted for slightly curved walls, which soften the practice’s feel and make it less clinical. It also adds to the all–important feeling of space that he desired. As an endodontist, Turner doesn’t have a customer base that frequently returns to his practice, and often is seeing patients for the first time. Even without return visits, his patients are impressed.

“Patients love the modernness of the office,” he said. “We hear about that all the time, which is great. Sometimes they just love something new. They love the design and the colors. I don’t have any drab colors, and that makes them feel more at home, more comfortable. Or, as at home as they can feel getting a root canal. If I can help distract them or make them more comfortable, that’s great.”

The new practice has made a big difference for Turner. The modern look helps, as does the added space — he more than doubled the size of his previous space, to 4,100 square feet.

Still, Turner said the biggest difference wasn’t necessarily what he expected. “You can’t always put your finger on it, but it’s the layout that makes a difference,” he said. “Our efficiency, being able to move around with ease, and not step on top of each other, that’s the biggest improvement. I knew the space would make a difference, but the mobility it adds surprised me.”

In his new location, Turner is actively looking for an associate to help expand the practice. For now, he spends his days enjoying dentistry in new ways — and reconnecting with why he loved dentistry in the first place. “It’s still new to me,” Turner said. “I still get excited to come to work. When I sit down to actually work, I can position myself where I can feel like I’m perfectly in the right position to work on a patient. I feel like I have the tools to continue to provide excellent endodontic procedures to my patients now.”

The process of building a new office is different for everyone, but at the end of the day, everyone wants the practice they dreamed of, Turner said. In his new office, he feels like that’s what he got. “We’ve had a very good experience here,” he said. “When you’re setting up an office you have to make sure your office is exactly how you want it, that’s probably the most important thing. I feel like I have the exact office I wanted, and it has made all the difference.”