Continuing the discussion from Fast Food Kitchens:
Or maybe the rash of sexual abuse cases in the 80s & 90s I believe?
I suppose that didn’t occur to me since my current and previous dentists (who either had open space office design or kept doors open) have been women.
MDs don’t typically have open door setups, though having an assistant/chaperone in the room when examining a patient of the opposite sex, especially during “sensitive” exams, has gotten to be standard of care.
I’ve not seen open plan dentist offices. My own dentist has a dozen-ish exam rooms with full floor-to-ceiling permanent walls. Some have doors, some do not. All the workers, from dentists to oral surgeons to hygienists to reception clerks, are women. Which may or may not bear on any of this.
I went to a couple of open orthodontists offices during the 60s. Regular dentists can get involved with some pretty bloody and noisy procedures. I wouldn’t want to be a dentist or patient in an open space during procedures like that. I can see reasons why it would be a problem for some simpler procedures also.
My dentist moved a few years ago from an old converted house with the treatment rooms in enclosed rooms to a very expensive purpose-built building with rooms with glass walls facing the hallway and a glass barn door to enter and exit. Very visible from the hallway in other words.
My dentist is old fashioned, i guess. She has three exam rooms, and they are all enclosed rooms. She does leave the doors open, though.
My dentist has cubicals. 6 ft walls with no door.
There’s enough privacy and people passing in the hall would notice any inappropriate activity.
My dentist (all women in the practice) has semi-open treatment rooms - open enough to overhear some strange conversations. Fortunately, whenever I’ve been there, I haven’t heard screaming from other rooms. 
The title of this thread immediately reminded me of a piece by Woody Allen, If the Impressionists had been Dentists (1978).
Here’s the relevant excerpt:
My only experience with this was when I got sent to Dental Specialist for Temporomandibular Joint issues, aka TMJ, aka the clicky jaw thing.
It was more like a roomy barbershop. This was in the early 90s.
Same with mine, about a dozen of them in a large room. A couple weeks back when I was waiting for the novicaine to work, I could hear the conversation in the next chair. I couldn’t see anything and I could also hear some talking in the walkway as others walked by.