Community's choice: Dental practice makeover winner

by Alana Cueto

Editor's Note: Recently, the PennWell® Dental Group Community site hosted a dental practice makeover contest for its members. There were numerous entries, and community members voted New Jersey's CTNP Orthodontics as the winner of the contest. Below, Alana Cueto, chief executive officer of AC2 Healthcare Consulting, talks about the winning practice.

I encourage you to become a part of our dental community. While online, browse through the forums, blogs, photos, and videos posted by your colleagues. The site's membership count is currently more than 1,700 members.

Membership is free. You can find PennWell's dental Community at community.pennwelldentalgroup.com.

CTNP Orthodontics is a very original and exciting orthodontic practice in the New Jersey/New York area. This project was conceived by way of confronting two different languages. On one hand, the practice has a contemporary, high-tech environment, long walls of handmade tiles, and ceiling-to-floor glass sliding doors over a polished concrete floor that are commonly found in big retail and hardware stores.

Stark white is the dominant color, enhanced by the yellow and cobalt blue of the Italian tiles. The practice is paperless, using digital radiography and digital casts that can be accessed chairside on sleek touchscreen computers. On the other hand, we can experience very detailed and peculiar moments. Custom-made objects, toothpaste tubes, chairs, tables, and antiques from around the world have been carefully collected over the years, and these objects are mainly dental paraphernalia.

After

This minimalist atmosphere is inhabited by intriguing objects created by different European designers. The front desk is made with Douglas Fir boards recovered from demolished early 20th century industrial buildings located in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The walnut “center isle” was designed exclusively by Miguel Henriques for the main space of the clinic. The rubber boots table found in the reception room was made in Europe. Hanging from the white ceiling in the main space are two Murano glass chandeliers in a surprising dialogue with a Baroque gold trimmed red velvet mono-sofa.

Surrounded by this idiosyncratic combination of styles, the staff and patients are invited to relish in the constantly evolving contemporary reading materials, video art (Buster Keaton, Georges Méliès, William Wegam, and others), and music program.

This project was successfully accomplished by integrating a senior designer, who also serves as the art director and is wholly responsible for the sophisticated alternative sound and moody tunes heard throughout the entire facility, the edgy magazines, and the video presentations.

The office delivers personalized, orthodontic treatment, tailored to busy and well educated adults and their families. The clinical director, Dr. Cristina Teixeira, is an associate professor at New York University College of Dentistry, with a dual appointment in the department of orthodontics and the department of basic science and craniofacial biology.

Dr. Teixeira graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a DMD degree. She also has a master's degree in oral biology and is a board certified orthodontist. While enjoying the extraordinary intellectual environment of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Teixeira's enthusiasm with science led her to pursue a doctorate in developmental biology. Her research focuses on cartilage, bone formation, and growth. She maintains a full-time research laboratory funded by the NIH.

This orthodontic practice is not only a high-quality health care center, but is original, romantic, surprising, and whimsical. Like every work of art, it evokes an emotional response.

Reach Dr. Teixeira by e-mail at [email protected].