Serving Big-City Dentistry in a Small Town

Morgan Family Dental

Morgan Family Dental operated for thirteen years out of Rochester, Washington with only 3 operatories in a 920-square-foot space. Cramped, filled with lab equipment, and short on windows, the lab room doubled as the staff break room.

What was once fine for a dentist starting on his own and building a practice became too small, especially after owner Dr. Nathan Morgan purchased 2 Solea CO2 lasers and began regularly implementing anesthesia-free dentistry. Moving the lasers in and out of the operatories made space an even bigger issue.

Growing up in Morton, Washington, Dr. Nathan Morgan knows small-town life. Although his mother often encouraged him to become a dentist, his career initially took a different path. He spent several years working in Washington’s sawmills. After a job loss and remembering his mother’s words, he began volunteering as a sterile technician at a dentist’s office for a few months to learn about dentistry. It didn’t take long for Dr. Morgan to discover a passion for the work, and his experience in the timber industry qualified him for a retraining program at a local community college.

He earned his dental degree at the University of Washington, where he regularly attended and oversaw the setup of Burkhart-sponsored lunch-and-learn events, which led him to become a Burkhart customer when he started his own practice. With Burkhart’s help, he set up that first small office in 2012.

Despite Dr. Morgan beginning his search for land in 2014 to build a new practice, a series of issues, including deals that fell through and the COVID pandemic, meant that he couldn’t break ground on his new location until 2022.

However, plans were being developed during that time. Dr. Morgan knew what he wanted, and his office was really built with his community in mind. The first thing he insisted upon was space. “We needed more space to serve the community that serves us,” explains Dr. Morgan. “The community has been really good to me, and I want to keep doing my best for the community, and that’s being able to see people that need to be seen. We have to have space for that.”

He used an A-dec designer, even though he already had an idea of what he wanted the building to look like. He faced some resistance in his push for space, not only in the operatories, but in the hallways and staff areas. A place he and his staff could actually work in and be comfortable. He was told those sizes weren’t normally done.

“I wanted the rooms bigger. People don’t really do that. And I said, well, we do. So, it was a lot of back-and-forth. I think Burkhart really did help quite a bit with getting the plans ready.”

The new Morgan Family Dental office opened in October of 2025, fulfilling the brief of being a family-focused dental practice with modern touches. The new space, occupying half of a brand-new building, is 4000 square feet, giving them more than four times the size of the previous office. The nine new operatories, each filled with light from large windows, are almost 12 x 12 feet wide, leaving plenty of room for his lasers and equipment. Each operatory has new A-dec chairs and cabinetry. Nitrous is now plumbed and integrated into every room, instead of having to wheel in the old nitrous cart that was falling apart.

The upgraded layout has improved efficiency behind the scenes. A dedicated ‘get-ready’ station in a new, centralized sterilization area keeps instruments and supplies organized, creating a smoother workflow for the team. Unlike the previous office, where patients could easily access or lean against the sterilization center, the new design keeps the area more secure.

The new facility has also brought notable benefits for the team, keeping team morale high. New staff benefits include employee lockers, a dedicated changing room, a private staff bathroom, and even an on-site washer and dryer. It was important to Dr. Morgan to make sure he took care of his staff. “I knew I wanted to be in a larger space and have more room for people to be walking around,” he explains. “A place that we can actually work in and be comfortable.”

Patients have embraced the new office, often commenting on its bright and open atmosphere. The expanded space feels cleaner, more comfortable, and more home-like, with plenty of room for patients and staff to move freely.

Patients especially appreciate the spacious hallways and treatment areas. The five-foot-wide corridors exceed ADA requirements, making it easy for wheelchair users to navigate comfortably and for patients and team members to pass one another. In fact, Dr. Morgan notes that the entire footprint of his previous office was roughly the same size as the staff breakroom in the new facility.

For Dr. Morgan, patient care is at the heart of everything he does. To better serve his Rochester community, he has invested in a wide range of advanced dental technologies, including laser dentistry, CEREC same-day crowns, intraoral cameras, and CBCT imaging. The practice is committed to being a small-town practice with large-town technology. “We’re a small town, so we don’t have a lot of availability for people to just go somewhere else,” said Dr. Morgan. “We try to serve the community the best we can and offer as many things as we can.”

With that philosophy in mind, Dr. Morgan performs as much dentistry in-house as possible, referring patients only for highly complex procedures or orthodontic treatment. Thanks to the Solea lasers, the practice can perform many procedures without anesthesia, including laser fillings, and the CEREC technology enables same-day crowns. The office’s CBCT imaging system also supports guided implant restorations.

Beyond the technology and services, Dr. Morgan’s commitment to Rochester is deeply personal. “We like being here in Rochester. I love my patients, and I love my staff, and they’re pretty great. I just like being able to give back to them.”

Learn more about Morgan Family Dental.

---

 

Written by Dawn Kahl

Published in Catalyst – Q4 2026.

 

 

Category: Office Planning & Design

Back to Articles