NYC Dentist Dreams Big with Design, Technology and Location

Hudson Street Dental perfects patients’ smiles with high-tech innovation and a high-touch experience.

If you ask Dr. David Tarica what he loves most about New York, his answer comes easy: "It’s being able to take care of New Yorkers’ smiles.” It’s a vision he has shared with his partners, Dr. Randall Hight and Dr. Mark Nadolne, since they opened the first of their six dental offices in 1985.

The sixth office, Hudson Street Dental, officially opened in March 2020 and is part of My NYC Dentist, a full service, diversified group of dental practices in and around the New York City area. The new upscale dental office is on the ground floor of a 12-story building which houses a portion of Google’s New York employee campus. In fact, Google is the building’s only other tenant.

Located in the city’s vibrant, up-and-coming Hudson Square neighborhood, the building is just steps from trendy Soho and Tribeca. The area, formerly known as the Printing District, at one time was home to 60% of Manhattan’s commercial print shops. Over the past two decades, it has transformed into a creative and technology hub with the influx of companies such as Warby Parker, DigitalOcean, Squarespace and Google. The area is also seeing a wave of high-end residential “work, live, play” developments for its burgeoning population of affluent residents, 30% of whom are 25 to 44 years old. But, there remains a void for many common community services to support this busy and relatively young population.

As a general dental practice providing specialty services like dental implants, veneers and oral surgery, all under one roof, Hudson Street Dental fills an important gap in this tech-savvy location.

“The neighborhood is an emerging technology hub,” says Dr. Tarica, when explaining his and his partners’ decision to open a new location in Hudson Square. “We learned that Google signed a contract to lease the entire building at 315 Hudson St., along with Disney’s plans to build a 20-story East Coast headquarters across the street. There are very few health care providers in the general area. We thought it would be an excellent opportunity to provide dental services for both the residential and the commercial communities.”

Breaking the Mold

Dr. Tarica’s team found a boutique, hospitality-focused interior design firm, Dx3 Designs, to create an “un-dentist, office-like feel,” and then signed on Henry Schein to coordinate the build and bring their vision to life. They then signed the lease for approximately 4,400 square feet, next to Google’s entryway, which they completely redesigned to reflect the changing neighborhood.

“The landlord was looking for something specific to open next to Google’s entrance,” explains Ronald Hendrzak, a field sales consultant with Henry Schein. “When faced with various logistical decisions that come with a project of this magnitude, it’s sometimes hard to know the right thing to do. That’s why clients often lean into their relationship with Henry Schein. Dr. Tarica had been working with us for more than 20-plus years. This is the first office from beginning to end that we completed for him.”

Adds Dr. Tarica, “Once plans were drawn, we presented them to the landlord so we could begin renovating right away. We purposefully and thoughtfully designed Hudson Street Dental to reflect the needs of this high-tech area.”

“The sense of community and the vibe of the community resonated with our vision for our practice: Innovative, modern, technology-forward, yet patient-centered,” says Dr. Hight. “That’s the reason we chose Henry Schein. Henry Schein does a fantastic job of capturing that market. I told Ron what we need. He helped get the right people and coordinate the effort. He and his team delivered.”

Henry Schein’s Integrated Design Studio (IDS) team worked closely with their contractor, architect, interior design firm and equipment vendors, carefully balancing the dentists’ vision with the logistical execution.

“The team wanted the space to incorporate areas of intense architectural interest through unconventional ceiling designs and unique doorways, all connected on the first floor by a long, wide hallway from the front to the back of the office,” says Mr. Hendrzak.

IDS, along with Dx3 Designs, created a layout that was forward-thinking, with careful attention to detail in all areas of the practice, even down to the design of the front desk area. The office is a fusion of technology and style, incorporating some of the most sophisticated systems to improve patient experiences and clinical results. This includes technology that enables a completely paperless environment.

When patients enter the ultra-modern office, there are no forms, papers or charts. The office relies on the latest software, using Dentrix and Demandforce to capture data, communicate appointments and update files. Hudson Street’s patients can register via the practice’s website, or they can use the in-office kiosk located in the reception area.

The wide-open, bright and airy reception area is made more so by the 11-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, which let in the natural daylight, illuminating the neutral toned-floor and darker neutral-toned cloth chairs.

The sleek dental office, which opened for three days in March 2020, only to close and reopen in April of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, currently features top-of-the-line, single-entry, private operatories — with room for six more in anticipation of growth.

The operatories are equipped with numerous amenities designed to create an exceptional, one-of-a-kind experience for patients receiving dental care, including Wi-Fi, comfortable A-dec® dental chairs and large monitors so patients can relax and watch TV during procedures or see a visual of their oral cavity as the doctor explains treatment plans. Other state-of-the-art technologies include 3Shape TRIOS® intraoral scanners for high-quality, accurate digital impressions, a Midmark Synthesis® Steri-Center for simple, intuitive instrument processing and A-dec® cabinetry for enhanced efficiency and esthetic appeal.

Illuminating Smiles

The practice has been open full-time since April 2021 and Google’s employees are returning to campus. Disney’s campus is also scheduled to be completed in 2024. “It's been a slow and steady climb,” says Dr. Tarica of the new office, which currently sees upwards of 60 to 70 new patients per month, with steady growth continuing.

While the practice’s patrons come back for the exceptional full-service dental care and convenience of a one-stop shop, it’s the curb appeal that brings in many new walk-ins.

“At night, we leave the lights on and dim them,” says Dr. Nadolne of the ambiance. “It looks very warm and inviting.”

Situated near the Google employee entrance, passersby can see these lights shining through the office’s large, storefront window, illuminating a long, spacious corridor with a simple, but meaningful sign in bold letters, shrouded in subtle light. When they look to see what the signs says, it becomes a personal invite, with the words, “That smile looks good on you.”

In the city that never sleeps, dreams really do come true, especially when you dream big and work smart. Dr. Tarica, along with his partners, Dr. Hight and Dr. Nadolne, understand the importance of making their patients feel at ease, particularly when many schedule their appointments during and after work. Inspired by a singular goal of positively impacting New Yorkers’ lives through the power of a beautiful smile, Dr. Tarica emphatically states, “Together, with help from the team at Henry Schein, we took our vision from a drawing on a sheet of paper and turned it into a reality.

“We worked hard to create a brand-new, state-of-the-art dental office where patients would feel comfortable and welcome during every visit and where we could provide them with access to top-level oral care.”