First Visit

Our staff will take a complete medical history of the patients prior to the first visit. Guardians are welcome to be with their child during the appointment. We strongly encourage parents with children under the age of 4 to accompany and participate on all cleaning appointments. On certain days when the office is busy we may ask parents to remain in the waiting area.

A first visit generally consists of a cleaning, an exam by Dr. Sandy and a topical fluoride application. X-rays are taken only as needed when called for by Dr. Sandy. We recommending allowing up to 30 minutes for this appointment in your schedule.

Other Appointments

In the event your child needs any operative work prior to the next cleaning appointment, Dr. Sandy will discuss the treatment plan with the parent and the options that are available. Our office manager will discuss costs and appointment times with the parent at check-out. For information on coverages, please see “Financial & Insurance” below.

If a parent wishes to accompany their child on an operative appointment, this must be approved by Dr. Sandy prior to the appointment date.

Sedation

We offer sedation services to patients based on need and treatment plan. We make every attempt to prevent recommending a sedation to complete a treatment plan due to the limited number of openings that are available. If a sedation is needed to complete a treatment plan, both Dr. Sandy and the office manager will discuss the procedures, costs, availability and requirements for the sedation. Deposits are required on all sedation procedures.

Scheduling Times

We understand the importance of education for your children. However we are not able to accommodate all patients with appointments after 3 p.m. Generally appointments after 3 p.m. are reserved by patients receiving their 6 month recalls. New patient appointments and operative appointments are scheduled throughout the day. In our experience children of certain ages are more tolerable to new experiences at certain times of the day. When scheduling patients we take these factors in account for recommending appointment times.

Your child’s absence from school is excused to receive medical/dental treatment. We will provide a “Doctor’s Note” to the parent.

Cancellations

We prefer to have at least 24-hour notice to reschedule or cancel your child’s appointment. Patients with excessive reschedules or cancellations may be required to place a deposit prior to booking their next appointment.

Financial & Insurance

We will electronically file on your primary and secondary insurance plans for your convenience. Our filing in no way constitutes a guarantee of benefits and it is the guardian’s responsibility to understand the coverages and limitations of their insurance plan - as this plan is a contract between you and the insurance company.

In the event that your child needs operative work, we will file a pre-treatment estimate with your insurance company prior to the initial operative procedure so we will know coverage amounts/limitations. In certain circumstances (emergencies) we cannot receive an EOB prior to providing treatment. In these cases we will estimate your benefits and provide a ‘worse-case scenario’ to you under the assumption that there are limitations on your policy.

We accept cash, MasterCard, Visa and personal checks drawn on local banks. Checks drawn on out of town banks require our approval.