In general business settings the growth of advanced technology and communication systems has led to the development of innovative systems to integrate technology into the workplace. One of these is a raised access flooring system. These systems such as Nexus from Hayworth (www.smednet.com/products) raise the entire floor about four inches leaving a space below to run power, telephone, computer and other communication connections. What makes this so effective is that when the technology changes or the space is redesigned the floor can be easily opened and new connections added simply and inexpensively.
Raised flooring systems are not being used in the dental office yet, but the idea has great potential. In the dental office we could not only run our technology connections but we could also run the basic utilities needed for dentistry such as water, air and vacuum. Then when a new technology came along or we wanted to remodel it would be simple and inexpensive to do so.