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A trip to the dentist isn’t usually thought of as a pleasurable experience but Dr Corbin Barry’s dental practice with a difference, Sage Space, in the Darlinghurst district of Sydney, strives to make it just that. By Janet Stone
As its website boldly states, Sage Space makes dental health a pleasure. Yet for some, pleasure is the antithesis of a dental appointment. But Dr Barry wanted to challenge the stereotype and go against the ‘drill and fill’ mentality when he opened his practice in January this year.
Sage Space is care-centred, focused on patients’ oral health, providing them with a positive experience, and education. “Dental disease is the most preventable non-communicable disease in the world, so our focus is educating people and creating a good experience for them as part of their check-up and clean process,” says Dr Barry. “Then we can actually alleviate the need for treatment that is usually needed because of neglect and people failing to understand the value of regular dental visits.
“If they follow our advice and we see them regularly, then the dental disease in our community should decrease because that’s our focus,” he continues. “We’re not trying to upsell anything more than health and general wellbeing.”
Dr Barry wants to encourage people to prioritise their dental appointments, as they would their doctor’s appointments. “People don’t necessarily prioritise the dentist so it’s a big re-education. Someone will get a haircut or they’ll go to a spa, or on an overseas holiday, and they’ll go to the doctor when they’re sick, but they won’t prioritise their average dental appointment,” he says. “We are trying to get people to see it as a fundamental treatment that they have on a regular basis.”
A big part in the planning process of Sage Space was addressing the pain points that people experience when making a dental appointment, such as the prospect of entering a sterile environment and the lack of transparency in pricing—and fear of a large bill!
The self-care and oral wellbeing rituals on offer at Sage Space are more akin to those you’d find in a high-end spa than at the dentist, and this is reflected in the look and feel of the practice itself. Dr Barry, who has a diploma in interior design, wanted to create a luxury space that felt like a home away from home for his patients, without the bright lights and hard lines typically indicative of a traditional practice. He recruited the interior design firm Strutt Studios to create a space that allows people to feel comfortable, at ease and at home. “My interest was how does the psychology of space impact how somebody feels?” says Dr Barry.
What we’re trying to do at Sage Space is work out that balance between profit and care. Because I think you can still have success while your focus on caring for people is at the heart of what you do.
Dr Corbin Barry, owner, Sage Space
Despite the luxury look of Sage Space, Dr Barry wants his business to be accessible to everyone. “We don’t think that by having a luxury space, you need to pay a big bill for porcelain veneers, for example, as a lot of the high-end practices that specialise in cosmetic procedures deck out their space to feel really glamorous,” he explains. “We think you should be able to have access to that same service, that same care and that same physical space, when you are having a check-up and clean.”
A lot of first-time patients who have come to Sage Space felt anxious visiting the dentist, and he attributes the design of the space to helping ease their anxiety. “Our check-out area looks like a darkly lit bar over a coffee table so we can chat and get to know our customers a bit more than just the transactional nature of a reception desk,” he says.
The Nimble, The Essential Ritual, The Glow, The Align, The Renew … these are just some of the rituals available at Sage Space. The inspiration for such names is to make cleaning teeth, dental hygiene and dentist appointments more like part of self-care rather than routine, explains Dr Barry. “Cleaning our teeth is part of our routine but why can’t we make it a moment of self-care instead of just another chore?”
Sage Space has a number of specialist consultants on the books, including an ear, nose and throat surgeon; a gum specialist, sleep dentist, oral pathologist and an osteopath. Any patient having an essential ritual, otherwise known as a check-up and clean, can be referred to a specialist to treat any underlying issues or causes, such as an osteopath for jaw pain from clenching and grinding, to address the muscles that cause the jaw pain and provide relief through massage.
Dr Barry remains focused on his long-term goal of providing accessible and affordable dentistry to all. This is something he was inspired to achieve during his training at James Cook University in Cairns where he undertook fly-in, fly-out trips to regional communities where a lot of people never had access to regular dental care. “When I came back to Sydney my ultimate goal was to create something similar, to replicate those models to help more people,” says Dr Barry.
“Originally you have to target people that can afford a higher-end service. And once you’ve got the flow of your business, you can then start looking at how you can create initiatives to support everyone else,” he says. “We’ve got some initiatives in the pipeline at the moment to allow more people to access our services without the fear of hidden costs.
“What we’re trying to do at Sage Space is work out that balance between profit and care. Because I think you can still have success while your focus on caring for people is at the heart of what you do.”
