You’d be forgiven for mistaking Sage Space – the ridiculously beautiful dentist studio in a shady corner of Darlinghurst – for a trendy creative agency, interior design firm or high-end beauty salon. And in a way, it kind of is.
The brainchild of passionate interior design enthusiast and dentist Dr Corbin Barry – whose role at Sage Space isn’t only as Principal Dentist, but also as Founder and Creative Director – Sage Space is a dentist studio like you’ve never seen before. In the light-flooded, terrazzo-tiled foyer, you’ll be greeted with a glass of water (in Maison Balzac, no less), then led through to the "brushing bay" (an enclosed, warmly-lit space complete with a stylish sink below a designer mirror) and gifted with a dental wellness pack containing a toothbrush, organic toothpaste, natural lip balm and the cutest box of floss you'll ever see. Once you’ve brushed your teeth, your dentist will lead you through to the treatment room; another stunningly designed space that entirely defies convention.
Aesthetically unpleasant, purely functional design features are replaced with artwork from local creatives, and instead of the scent of harsh chemicals thronging the air, you’ll notice a Maison Balzac candle burning in the corner. Every touchpoint of the dentist visit has been considered and re-worked for your enjoyment.
And while Sage Space could get by on good looks alone, it doesn’t have to. The treatments offered are akin to the kinds of dental care treatments you’d experience at other dental studios – just delivered with the kind of gentle, delicate attention to detail you’d expect from a wellness or beauty treatment. Halfway through my treatment, my dentist opened my shiny new lip balm and applied it in case my lips were feeling dry. If they were, I hadn’t noticed; I’d been too engrossed in the episode of Friends that was playing on the plasma screen fixed to the ceiling, taking in the sweet scent of Sainte T.
Dental studios aren’t genuinely the kinds of establishments that we cover at Time Out Sydney, but Sage Space is so much more than what it says on the tin; it’s a reflection of what every business could be if it threw away the rulebook and focused on making every moment special.
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