Appointments Policy

At our practice we will endeavour to manage our appointments system to avoid delays in appointment times and minimise loss of surgery time through cancellations and failed appointments.

In our practice we

  • Communicate with patients in a courteous, friendly, professional manner
  • Make sure that patients receive full information about our services, their treatment and its cost
  • Provide advice and treatment outside normal surgery hours where necessary
  • Refer patients for further professional advice and treatment where appropriate

In our practice we will

  • Manage our appointments system so that treatment appointments are booked no more than 2 weeks ahead
  • Ensure that patients should have to wait no longer than 20 minutes to be seen. Where there is a further delay we will explain the reasons.
  • Remind patients of their appointment by phone, email or text (as preferred).
  • Monitor our waiting times for (i) treatment and (ii) for booking appointments
  • Provide as much notice as possible when appointments have to be changed or cancelled and explain the reasons
  • Advise patients if there is a change of dentist

In return, we would like you to

  • Participate in your dental treatment, particularly any advice about prevention and diet that we have asked you to continue at home
  • Arrive on time for your appointment. Please give the practice at least 48 hours notice if you are unable to keep your appointment. We may charge for missed appointments where we have not been notified OR (for NHS patients) If you miss an appointment on more than one occasion without letting us know, we may need to review future provision of treatment for you at the practice.
  • Advise us of any changes to your contact details (address, telephone numbers, email) to help us keep our records up to date and ensure that we are able to contact you

Dental Emergencies
We reserve emergency appointments daily; we ask that our patients can contact us at 9am to arrange an emergency appointment. Our emergency appointments are on a first come first served basis and are provided during our office hours.

For out of hours emergencies, we recommend our patients to contact dentaline on 01634890300. They are available from 7pm- 10:30pm on weekdays, and 09:30am-11am and 7pm-10:30pm on weekends and bank holidays.