STUDIO DENTAL WINS CITATION AWARD FROM AIA

Studio Dental Brings Dental Services to Busy Professionals in San Francisco

The San Francisco Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has granted a citation award to Studio Dental, a fully operational 230 square-foot mobile dental office. Launched in 2014 by Dr. Sara Creighton and her business partner and CEO Lowell Caulder, Studio Dental fulfills a need that the partners first perceived as busy young professionals. None of their associates seemed to either have their own dentists or visit the dentist regularly, while many of Creighton’s own patients required early morning or end of day appointments and often missed appointments altogether because of work. Envisioning the convenience of a dentist’s office that was able to travel to clients instead, the pair partnered with David Montalba Architects, pitched a name, and Studio Dental was born.

A big challenge for Studio Dental, which took $300,000 to build and spent over a year in conception before becoming a reality, was making the space feel less like the back of a truck while easing the fears that many have about going to the dentist. Features such as strategically placed mirrors and 11-foot-plus ceilings with skylights expand the space and diffuse natural light. The office’s sleek, modern identity is reinforced through natural wood millwork, white, black and beige surfaces, and a custom perforation pattern on the walls and ceiling that suggests a dense tree canopy. Other bonuses such as a ceiling TV that plays Netflix and software providing a real-time bill upon checkout have contributed to the extremely positive response of patients – some of whom are with such companies as Google, Dropbox and Airbnb.

Studio Dental’s business model is based on forming partnerships with San Francisco businesses that in turn promote the service to their employees. Appointments from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm are offered for those employees during the one- to two-week period that the truck is parked in the area. Word of the service then travels through “brave early adopters,” as Creighton likes to call them, bringing in more clients. With 80% returning for a second appointment after just seven months on the road, Creighton and Caulder are confident that they are on their way to meeting their goal of a strong client base.