A-dec explains how to make the dental practice more inclusive and shares key features to look for in an accessible dental chair.
More than a billion people, equating to about 15% of the world’s population, are living with some kind of disability (The Lancet Public Health, 2021). This can include long-term sensory, mental or physical challenges that impact their daily lives, access to healthcare, and the support they need. As our global population ages, we can also expect the number of people with disabilities to increase in the coming years.
Unfortunately, even with this growing number, individuals with disabilities often find themselves overlooked by health systems and face serious gaps in health and wellbeing outcomes. The public health sector has a crucial role in tackling these inequalities by advocating for inclusive policies, enhancing accessibility in services, and making sure that disability considerations are incorporated into every aspect of health planning and care delivery (The Lancet Public Health, 2021).
Accessibility in dental care extends from the reception area to the treatment room; every element of your space should be thoughtfully designed to ensure all patients, regardless of ability, feel welcome, safe and valued.
With careful planning and the right dental equipment, your practice can remove common barriers to care, creating a more inclusive environment that enhances the experience for both patients and the dental team.
Rethinking the patient journey: layout and flow
An accessible practice begins before the patient even enters the building. Consider your parking, for instance, are your spaces accommodating for a wide range of people?
In addition, features like step-free entrances, wide automatic doors, low-height reception counters, and accessible restrooms are all ways to help maintain a high quality of service for everyone.
Think about how you can ensure the layout inside the practice works for all your patients, including easy movement for wheelchair users, those with walking aids, or individuals with sensory sensitivities. This means:
- Corridors and doorways: all treatment room doors should ideally be at least 900mm wide and have corridors that are at least 1,200mm wide (Gov, 2024)
- Spacious treatment rooms: ideally, you would have at least 1.5m x 1.5m of clear floor space inside the treatment room for wheelchair users to turn safely. To help keep the floor space open, try and avoid clutter by building in vertical storage solutions
- Accessible toilets and hygiene areas: accessible toilets and hygiene areas are often overlooked areas of an inclusive dental practice. These spaces should feature step-free access, wide doorways (minimum 900mm), support rails, lever-style taps, and an easily reachable emergency pull cord. Where possible, baby changing tables should also be installed
- Clear signage: have all signage within the building displayed with large fonts, high-contrast colour and braille/tactile markers
- Lighting and acoustics: ensure spaces are well-lit, with adjustable lighting options to help patients with sensory sensitivities. Opt for indirect lighting to minimise glare and harsh reflections. Use sound-absorbing materials such as carpets or acoustic wall panels to help reduce background noise and create a calmer environment, which is always a bonus in a dental practice, which is commonly associated with being an unnerving environment to start with.
Dental chair considersations
Perhaps the most important aspect of ensuring an accessible dental practice is the dental chair. It’s the hub of every practice, and for many patients, it can either represent a moment of dignity or distress.
For patients with mobility issues, traditional dental chairs can present significant challenges. Transferring into the chair can be awkward or physically unsafe. Hoisting can be undignified.
For wheelchair users, the expectation to leave their chair is often very challenging. This is where the right dental chair design can make all the difference.
If you’re planning to purchase a new dental chair or upgrade an existing one, here are the key features to look for to ensure it supports accessibility and meets the needs of all your patients.
1. Dental chair weight capacity
A large proportion of dental chairs have a weight limit of 350lb (159kg), which can pose challenges in today’s healthcare landscape, especially given that, as of 2024, 64.5% of adults aged 18 and over in England are classified as overweight or living with obesity (Gov, 2025). This highlights a critical gap in accommodating the diverse needs of modern patients.
To truly be inclusive, a dental chair must be designed to safely support individuals of all body types. The A-dec 500 dental chair addresses this need with a robust weight capacity of up to 500lb (227kg), ensuring that every patient can receive care safely.
2. Low base-down position
This feature is often overlooked, but how low a dental chair can go can make it easier for patients to transfer from wheelchairs or stand directly in front of the chair before being assisted. A-dec dental chairs, for example, offer an exceptionally low base-down position, with 500 chairs featuring a low point of 343mm.
3. Removable or reversible headrest
One of the most useful accessibility features a dental chair can have is a dual-articulating headrest. This feature enables dentists to completely remove the headrest from the chair and reposition it 180 degrees around to enable wheelchair users to remain in their own chair during treatment while still enabling dentists to access the oral cavity effectively.
4. Chair swivel function
To facilitate easier access, dental chairs should have a good range of radius, ideally 30-degree swivel left or right of swivel. The A-dec chairs can swivel 60° in total (30° each side of the centre). This helps dentists position the chair for the most comfortable patient entry and exit.
5. Ergonomic, slim design
Space efficiency is critical in both modern and older surgeries. A-dec chairs allow better access around the patient, reducing repositioning and strain for both the patient and the dentist. A-dec’s slim chair design allows dentists to get closer to the patient, reducing the need for excessive repositioning or awkward movements. The A-dec chair baseplates are compact to help further facilitate movement around the chair and easy access for wheelchair users to get as close as possible to the dental chair. This not only benefits the patient but also helps protect dentists from repetitive strain or postural injuries.
6. Flexible delivery systems and lighting
The A-dec delivery system and A-dec LED lights offer an extensive range of motion, enabling tools and visibility to be repositioned as needed. This adaptability is essential when treating patients with varying mobility levels or who remain in their wheelchairs during procedures.
The value of thoughtful design
When it comes to thoughtful dental surgery design, it’s not just about ticking boxes for regulations, it’s about truly delivering compassionate, patient-centred care. With a strong emphasis on ergonomic excellence, intuitive functionality and inclusivity, A-dec helps to empower dental professionals to create accessible environments that never skimps on performance or style.
Discover more at unitedkingdom.a-dec.com.
For references, email siobhan.hiscott@fmc.co.uk.
This article is sponsored by A-dec.
