Something to smile about: Cape Girardeau dentistry wins national design award

The best-designed large dentist office in the country is right here in Cape Girardeau.

It's not hyperbole. Owner and dentist Ross Bennett of Bennett Family Dentistry has the certificate from the American Dental Association (ADA) to prove it.

His practice at 989 N. Mount Auburn Road won the large new build category for the ADA's 2023 Design Innovation Awards.

Awards are given to the best new large, small and remodeled offices nationwide. The ADA uses a three-year sliding scale to determine which designs are considered new, so although Bennett's office opened in 2020, it was still eligible.

"Thinking of the magnitude of the contest itself, I thought, 'Let's enter it, but I don't know if we have a realistic chance of winning something like this, being a family dental practice in the middle of the country,'" Bennett said.

Taking cues from his practice's previous office, Ross Bennett wanted the waiting area of his family dentistry to be spacious and have plenty of large windows.Christopher Borro

The previous two winners of the large new build category had come from Buffalo, New York, and the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. The other 2023 finalists were from Dallas and Los Angeles.

Entries had to be submitted by August. A panel narrowed the finalists in each category down to three entries. Then the public chose which ones they liked most by voting on the ADA website throughout October.

The final results were revealed Dec. 8.

"You could go to any dental office in the United States, and sitting on their waiting room table will be an article about an office in Cape Girardeau that was rated the most innovative in the nation," he said.

Bennett's award was not the only one that went to a dental office in Missouri. NKC Dental in North Kansas City won the award for the best remodel.

The new buildout award for smaller offices went to Central Texas Periodontics in Georgetown, Texas, a suburb of Austin.

Winners took home a $1,000 cash prize in addition to their certificate. Bennett said he'd use it to put together a special event for his staff.

Expanded functions dental assistants Kailyn Fahnestock, left, and Lauren Lappe are among more than 30 workers staffing the Bennett Family Dentistry office. Owner Ross Bennett based much of his office's award-winning design on employee and patient suggestions.Christopher Borro

Inspiration and timing

Bennett's parents started their dentistry 45 years ago, and in 1982 moved their practice into a former church. The practice remained there until 2020, and Bennett took design feedback from that location when it came time to build a new one.

Bennett spoke with patients and staff to see what design elements they wanted to see.

"So we basically vetted all the possibilities right there with the people who would be in the building the most," he said.

For example, the former office had a small bank of windows in many rooms, but two rooms with full windows that patients always wanted to be treated in.

"So you'll notice one of our building's features is all of our dental operatories have large, architectural windows, so that way if it's a beautiful day you can enjoy that," Bennett said.

He also wanted to have a large waiting room to evoke the spacious feeling of the previous office instead of a tightly confined, claustrophobic environment.

The new location opened in March 2020. Later that month, it had to close for six weeks because of coronavirus regulations.

"We didn't know COVID was coming when we built the building. A lot of dental offices had a very difficult time with COVID regulations and following those ... but because we had built to the scale we had, unintentionally we could properly social distance all of our patients," Bennett said.

Working with Boulder Construction and Trish Stahly Designs, both of Cape Girardeau, Bennett could put the final additions of the office into place.

Dentist Blake Essner works on a same-day crown machine that sculpts crowns out of blocks of porcelain. It is among several pieces of technology that made the American Dental Association name the Bennett Family Dentistry office one of the most innovative designs in the country.Christopher Borro

Special features

Bennett knew he'd need to expand to a larger office before long.

"We knew it'd be necessary for the community for there to be a larger office to take care of the people here," he said.

His team visited Design Ergonomics, an architectural firm in Boston to see what features could create a healthy working environment.

He also toured Texas, visiting offices in Dallas and San Antonio to glean inspiration from and taking a design course in Austin.

One of the features Bennett wanted to include was an indoor gym.

"You go to Apple, you go to Google, you go to these Fortune 500 companies, and almost all of them have on-site fitness centers," he said. "It's just not practical in most small businesses, financially as well as (in terms of) space, but because we had built the size of office we built, we had the available room to do it."

During the pandemic, when many gyms had shut down, his staff wanted to keep in shape. Many of them use the gym during their lunch hours or after work.

Bennett also installed a golf simulator in the basement for team get-togethers.

New equipment for patients to use included heating and massage chairs and iPads above dental chairs to entertain or calm nervous children.

Bennett also had a dental lab with a 3D printer for crown molds installed. The device can prepare a crown mold via a digital scan that is ready within a few hours.

All told, there are 17 treatment rooms in the building. The previous office had only nine.

Even with the award, Bennett said the office simply provides a way of fulfilling the practice's higher purpose: taking care of people.

Do you want more business news? Check out the B Magazine email newsletter. Go to www.semissiourian.com/newsletters to find out more.