The Effects of Environmental Psychology on the Design of Dental Centers

The architectural environment, as the main context for human activities, has significant impacts on the mental health of individuals. Stress in human beings, as one of the indicators and measures of mental health, is highly influenced by this environment. The stress present in therapeutic environment, with its negative consequences, can delay the recuperation of patients. One of the most stressful therapeutic settings is dental clinics where due to neglecting the moods of the users when visiting the clinic for therapeutic purposes, a sort of fear and anxiety is induced in the patients, reducing the impact of the therapy performed on the patients. The main objective of the current study is to identify stress-inducing factors in dental clinics and to evaluate the role of internal design and environmental factors in controlling this stress. With regards to the objectives, this study is an applied one and with regards to the methodology, the study is a comparative one. The results obtained from the study show that focusing on components and elements impacting the internal and external design of these centers base on the principles of environmental psychology can reduce the stress and anxiety created due to being present in these centers and improve calmness for the users.