.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Melissa Bernhardt and Blair Smith had a vision for what they wanted their orthodontics office to be. Two months ago, that vision became a reality.

Bernhardt and Smith Orthodontics opened its new location at 9295 Bishop Drive in West Des Moines. With 5,000 square feet of space, Bernhardt said they were able to create an environment with better “flow” and more privacy for their patients and their family members.

“We want this to be a very comfortable place for our patients,” she said. “We want them to have a good experience.”

The new office also has an in-house laboratory, allowing staff to do tests and get results themselves as opposed to sending tests out to other companies.

“We’ve empowered our staff to do more,” she said.

In addition, they have also provided the staff with its own break room and office space, something that wasn’t possible before.

Orthodontia is the practice of straightening and closing gaps in teeth and correcting problems with bite and the alignment of teeth and lips.

Smith said that when a patient is referred to Bernhardt and Smith from their regular dentist, visits become much more regular.

“They come to see us every month, where they go to their regular dentist every six months,” he said. “We want to build a relationship with those patients.”

Bernhardt said the area around them is growing so quickly it was common sense to move closer to Waukee. In addition, she said, she wanted to practice in the community where her children go to school.

“We designed this office to be very functional and very open to family members of our patients,” he said.

Even though the office has only been open for two months, there are already a lot of new patients, Smith said.

“I never realized how much traffic goes down University Avenue,” he said. “This is a very visible location. This is a great area and a great opportunity for us to grow.”

Bernhardt said the office was also designed to allow for future growth.

“We wanted to plan for growth so we wouldn’t have to move down the road,” she said. “We want to grow right here. Eventually, I hope to retire right here.”

Bernhardt has been in practice since 1998, and Smith has been practicing orthodontia since 2002.