Building a new dental office lets you put the operatories, the equipment room, and the plumbing exactly where they work best. It also moves several decisions much earlier than most dentists expect. In a lease space, under-slab plumbing is cut into an existing floor. In a new building, it goes in before the concrete is placed, so the chair layout has to be settled before the slab is poured. This guide walks through the site, the utilities, the plumbing and vacuum, and the equipment planning that come first. If you are leasing instead, our guide to converting office space into a dental office covers that path.
Choosing and testing the site
A dental office needs more parking than an ordinary office of the same size, visibility from the road, and a lot shaped to fit the building, the parking, and any drainage detention. Before you close on land, confirm the zoning allows a dental office, find out whether the lot is platted, and learn what the city will ask for on landscaping, fire lanes, and the building's exterior. Our guides on buying land for a medical office building and site approvals in DFW cities cover those steps.
A pad site in a developed center is usually the simplest start, but "developed" can mean less than it sounds. Lustig & Young Orthodontics Park Vista, a 5,000-square-foot orthodontic building we built in Fort Worth in 2015, sat on a partially developed pad site. Ask for a geotechnical report early, too. In North Texas the clay soils shrink and swell, and the soil report sets the foundation design that all of the under-slab work has to fit.
Utilities to the building
Ask what is at the property line and what it will take to reach the building. A dental office uses more water and sewer than a general office, with a sink in every operatory, sterilization, and a lab. Confirm the size and depth of the sewer, the size of the water meter and tap, the backflow device the city requires, and whether the fire marshal will require a sprinkler line.
Electric service deserves an early call. Compressors, vacuum pumps, sterilizers, imaging, and air conditioning add up, and some equipment calls for three-phase power. Ask the electric utility whether three-phase service is available at the site and how long it will take to bring it in. Those answers can affect the budget and the schedule as much as anything inside the building. Phone and data lines to the building belong in the same early conversation.
Plumbing and vacuum before the slab
Each operatory needs water, a drain, compressed air, vacuum, power, and data at a utility box beside the chair. In most dental buildings those lines run under the slab, from each chair back to the equipment room. Once the concrete is placed, moving a chair means saw-cutting a new floor, so the chair layout and the equipment supplier's utility drawings must be final before the pour.
The vacuum line drives the layout. It carries fluid and debris from the patient's mouth back to the pump, and most systems need the pipe to slope steadily toward the pump or separator with no low spots. Operatories grouped near the equipment room keep runs short. Decide early between a wet and a dry vacuum system, because they pipe differently. A federal Environmental Protection Agency rule (40 CFR Part 441) requires most offices that place or remove amalgam to install an amalgam separator, so leave room for it.
The city inspects the under-slab plumbing before the concrete is placed. We also check the under-slab plumbing and the equipment rough-ins with the equipment supplier's installer before the slab is poured. Plan stubbed and capped lines for any future operatories now. Adding them later costs far more than adding them on day one.
Planning the equipment and the rooms around it
Most of the floor plan follows a short list of equipment decisions:
- Operatories. How many now, how many later, open bay or private rooms, and the delivery style (rear, side, or over the patient).
- Imaging. Intraoral units only, a panoramic unit, or cone beam CT. Shielding comes from the manufacturer's requirements or a qualified physicist's design.
- Equipment room. The compressor, vacuum pump, and separator need space, cooling or ventilation, sound control, and an outdoor vent for the vacuum exhaust.
- Sterilization and lab. A one-way path from dirty to clean, plus any milling or 3D printing.
- Gases. Piped nitrous oxide and oxygen, installed and tested under NFPA 99, or portable units.
A new building lets these choices shape the structure itself. Bridget McAnthony, DDS Pediatric Dentistry in Fort Worth, a 3,800-square-foot building we completed in 2014, was planned around its dental equipment, with a high-ceiling open-bay operatory lit by a suspended spoke lighting system. Harris Orthodontics, a 6,333-square-foot single-story building we completed in Forney in 2020, has an open treatment bay with chairs separated by glass dividers.
Building for growth
A building you own can grow with the practice. Some dentists build more than they need and lease the rest. Family Tree Dentistry in Colleyville is a 5,500-square-foot building we completed in 2013, with 3,300 square feet for the dental practice. Others build large from the start: Just for Grins in Keller is a 12,230-square-foot, two-story dental office we completed in 2020, with private and open clinical areas, a training room, sterilization, and a lab. And some move from a remodel to a new building as the practice grows. For Dentistry by Greg L. Gist, DDS in Southlake, we completed a remodel in 2008 and a new building in 2011.
Whichever way you grow, bring the contractor and equipment supplier in before design is fixed. We prepare a first budget at no charge. It is an early range, and a detailed estimate is priced later from the drawings. During construction we schedule the city, fire, and state accessibility inspections.
Learn more about how we build new buildings from the ground up and about our dental construction work. Structures and Interiors also finishes out and renovates existing space for dentists who lease. Our guide to a dental office build-out in Texas covers permits and X-ray registration.
Common questions
Why does the chair layout have to be final before the slab is poured?
In most dental buildings the water, drain, air, vacuum, power, and data lines run under the slab to a box beside each chair. Once the concrete is placed, moving a chair means saw-cutting the new floor. The equipment supplier's utility drawings set those locations, so they have to be final first.
What utilities should I check before buying land for a dental office?
Check the size and depth of the sewer, the water meter and tap, the backflow device the city requires, and whether a sprinkler line is needed. Ask the electric utility whether three-phase power is available, because some dental equipment calls for it.
Should I plumb for more operatories than I need now?
Usually, yes. Lines stubbed and capped under the slab for future chairs cost far less on day one than cutting the floor later. Decide the future count before the plumbing drawings are done.
Planning a new building, a finish-out, or a renovation? Tell us about it.