Eastman Dental completes $5.9M in renovations

The Eastman Institute for Oral Health has completed a two-year, $5.9 million renovation and re-engineering project that it says will increase access to care in its downtown Rochester, NY, clinic and at its main clinic site on the University of Rochester Medical Center campus.

Eastman Dental has been Rochester's largest oral healthcare provider to the underserved for nearly 100 years, according to the institute, and the number of patients who came in for dental emergencies increased 100% during the last five years.

In 2008, Eastman Dental was awarded a $3.9 million New York State Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law grant to enhance emergency services for the underserved and increase access and capacity for the underserved.

With those funds, Eastman Dental built an urgent care dental clinic, added six new treatment rooms in its general dentistry and orthodontic clinics, and expanded and reconfigured its check-in and check-out process to provide better quality care and more efficient service for all patients.

In addition, Eastman Dental Downtown added four new treatment rooms, allowing twice as many patient visits as before in the high-poverty area of Rochester, as well as a makeover to the waiting room and clinic areas. In both locations, equipment was replaced, and new technology was incorporated to increase scheduling and treatment efficiency.