A Bigger Smile

Worth the wait… Lucey Dental SEPT22

or most people, a visit to the dentist is a right pain in the gums.

You know the drill. There’s a drill.

It’s something that Conor and Lisa Lucey have always fought to rectify, constantly striving to make their multi-award-winning Meridian Point dental practice as warm and welcoming as possible.

And that goal took a pretty giant leap forward this year as they acquired the neighbouring premises. Which meant that they could finally stretch their legs – and their ambitions – and put all their cunning plans into action.

Cunning plans such as a bigger and brighter reception, and even more impressive, a luxurious waiting room that could easily double up as a private cinema, with comfy chairs, low lighting and a great big screen showing the sort of stunning nature footage that would make Sir David Attenborough yeep.

Conor & Lisa Lucey

And it’s all pulled together with a sea-kissed colour scheme that reflects Greystones. Including that stunning, oversized Cove painting by Toni Smith.

With more to come, with grabbed ten minutes with young Conor to find out how Lucey Dental got from there to here. And where they’re off to next…

GG: When you realised you could go widescreen with your premises, did it take long to settle on just how you’d use all this extra space…?
Conor Lucey: Yes, you would not believe how long it takes to arrive at the final design/layout. It takes time and reflection, and involves many iterations on design to get optimal layout. My motto is measure twice cut once!

The challenge was to use the new space effectively while at same time amalgamating and integrating with our existing unit to create one overall unit that operates seamlessly. So we visited the best dental practices in Ireland and abroad, including the US, to see how they were designed and how they used their space. Also, we attended international trade shows and conferences, we spoke with our suppliers, whilst, most importantly, listening to our patients and staff to ensure we got input from all parties prior to finalising the design.

So a lot of thought and consideration was put into the design and layout.

A key factor was making a visit to Lucey Dental as sweet as possible – without any actual sweets, of course. A tricky goal…?
The design goal was to create an environment where patients have a unique experience, and have the feeling of calm and relaxation, even in the actual surgeries. This is achieved through a combination of interior decor, using audio visual entertainment and distractors, fittings and furniture, and spaciously-proportioned rooms. And ultimately wrapping all that up in a service delivered by a team focused on patient care – we recently won the award for Best Patient Care in Ireland 2022.

Best Patient Care 2022

We wanted to reflect the Greystones and sea theme in the design also, so the selection of colours used was specifically chosen for that reason.

Some of the standout design elements include virtual sky ceilings in the waiting room and surgeries, audio visual entertainment in waiting room, entertainment screens over the dental chairs connected to noise cancelling headphones, a spacious reception area more akin to a hotel, etc.

Significant investment in technology included 3D Imaging equipment enabling 3D X-rays images to be taken, Intra oral scanners to provide 3-D models of patients teeth and mouth, and 3-D printers to provide same day dentistry

The waiting room is pretty close to the perfect hideaway den, with low lighting, comfy chairs, that epic Toni Smith painting, and a great big screen to go Full National Geographic on. You feel a strong urge to go grab a beer. Your idea, or Lisa’s…?
I think the best thing to say is that we will both take some credit for that! And the waiting room is the area where we really had a blank canvas. Our goal was that the patient should not feel like they are in a dental or medical facility while in the waiting room – so the waiting room has several features to achieve this, including a virtual sky ceiling, audio visual entertainment taking them on a journey around the world, warm lighting, comfy chairs, Toni’s painting, floor to ceiling glass screen, etc.

How does it feel, to suddenly have all these extra rooms, all this open space…?
It feels great, and some relief also. Relief as we were at capacity and had outgrown our existing unit, so we needed the additional space and elbow room, for patients and staff. And it’s great as we can now provide a full range of range of treatments – our goal is to meet all your dental needs in Lucey Dental, including the various specialist areas of dentistry, such as implants, periodontics, orthodontics and endodontics. And the additional space has allowed us to create an even more relaxing and calming environment, and to provide an enhanced patient experience.

The makeover is almost complete – when do you hope to put the finishing touches to Lucey Dental 2.0…?
We are nearly there, and to patients it probably feels like it is finished, but we have a few more things to finish off, which will further enhance the overall experience. I would expect to finish these off over the next short while. The GG will be the first to know.

Bada-BOOM! You can find out more about Lucey Dental right about here. And when it comes to that new look, hey, brace yourself…