Library

Over the years, LDA has published an extensive catalogue of articles for Australasian Dental Practice and Australasian Dentist magazines, ranging from surgery design features to columns addressing finance, practice marketing and various aspects of the design process.

To view any of these articles, which can be downloaded as PDF files, please select one of the following categories:

The Design Process

Title	Issue	Overview
0702 Part 01 - Expand and Refurbish	Jan / Feb 2007	Every dental practitioner dreads the day when they will need to refurbish their surgery, yet in the first of a series on surgery design, Anne Levitch suggests that refurbishment should be seen as an ideal opportunity to improve the efficiency and productivity of your practice.

0704 Part 02 - How do you know?	March / April 2007	Before you make a move on that new surgery you have been planning, take the advice of Anne Levitch about the importance of preparing a design brief.

0706 Part 03 - Where will it all fit?	May / June 2007	Space planning for your new surgery can be far more complex than deciding where to put the steri. Anne Levitch counters your perplexity with some guidelines for successful design.

0708 Part 04 - Dealing with councils	July / Aug 2007	Obtaining statutory approvals and liasing with local councils has been described as ‘a Kafkaesque nightmare’. Don’t despair! Anne Levitch explains how to simplify the process.

0710 Part 05 - Dream Team	Sept / Oct 2007	Building or renovating a practice is a team effort, requiring many different people with varied skills to make the project a success. Approach the creation of your project team in a similar manner to selecting representatives for your practice and remember that time and patience are essential, explains Anne Levitch.

0712 Part 06 - Joinery design is in the details	Nov / Dec 2007	Detailed planning is advisable when it comes to joinery, which is one of the most expensive components of a dental surgery fitout, explains Anne Levitch.

0802 Part 07 - The Finishing Touch	Jan / Feb 2008	Selecting finishes and lighting for a healthcare environment needs careful consideration. Anne Levitch explains why.

0804 Part 08 - Essential Services	March / April 2008	In dental surgery design and construction, the planning and installation of essential services offers unique challenges, explains Anne Levitch.

0806 Part 09 - Documentation is Key	May / June 2008	Prior to construction commencement, the preparation of comprehensive documentation is essential, Anne Levitch explains why.

0808 Part 10 - The Construction Process	July / Aug 2008	The final stage of a project is construction, an important phase which can also be also be the most rewarding, Anne Levitch explains why.

0810 Part 11 - Final Details	Sept / Oct 2008	Adding the finishing touches to your practice and paying attention to the art of details can make all the difference, explains Anne Levitch.

0812 Part 12 - Complete Practice Presentation	Nov / Dec 2008	Refurbishing your practice extends past bricks and mortar to include your practice branding, signage, stationery and more, explains Anne Levitch.

0902 Part 01 - Summit of Healthcare Design	Jan / Feb 2009	The ‘salutogenic approach’ to design considers the holistic needs of a patient within a healthcare environment, explains Anne Levitch.

0904 Part 02 - Hierarchy of Patients Needs	Mar / Apr 2009	Over the twenty five years I’ve been designing dental faciities, I have been keenly aware of the changing practice of dentistry. In the past, dentistry was akin to the practice of medicine.

0906 Part 03 - Design & IDS	May / June 2009	We have wanted to travel to Cologne for the omnipotent International Dental Show for some years now, however there has always been something to prevent the trip. This year we were able to fit the trip into our schedule and headed off with the anticipation of visiting the ‘mothership’.

0908 Part 04 - Parking & Dental Facilities	July / Aug 2009	If battling the ever-increasing amount of traffic in our urban and regional areas and finding a parking space near our destination is not frustrating enough, when it comes to locating a dental facility, the issue can become critical.

0910 Part 05 - Function & Aesthetic	Sept / Oct 2009	Have you noticed that ‘balance’ seems to be a significant factor in the success of so many areas of life? It is a term applied frequently to the physical and the metaphorical. We strive as a culture for ‘work/life balance’. We balance our chequebooks for financial health. We watch our toddlers develop balance as they learn to walk. Balance supports growth!

0912 Part 06 - Importance of Ideal Function	Nov / Dec 2009	Recently, I outlined the need for balance between FUNCTION and AESTHETICS when designing a dental practice. Both are vitally important in the design process. Why is function important? Let’s look at this in the paradigm of dentistry. The first step in treating a patient successfully is ensuring the integrity of the patients oral health and occlusion before heading into aesthetic territory. Likewise with design. Once function is refined to the optimum, the work on aesthetics can begin.

1004 Part 8 - Sensation Transference	March / Apr 2010	When I first came across the concept of ‘sensation transference’, a lot of what we do every day fell into place for me. The term was developed by Louis Cheskin in the 1930’s to describe a phenomenon. How was it that by changing the colour of a wrapper, you could double or halve sales?

1004 Special Report - Payment Area Privacy	March / Apr 2010	The enjoyment of your space by patients is an integral element in determining the final design of your practice. Patients who enjoy your space and feel they have received great care are more likely to recommend you and upgrade treatment plans. Whilst these benefits can be hard to measure, they can fundamentally change your day-to-day experience. As such, patient comfort and experience should be a major influencing factor in the final design of your practice.