CANCELLATION AND NON-ATTENDANCE POLICIES PRIVATE PATIENTS

At Sundon Dental Practice we will require a deposit when you book a private appointment. This will be deducted from your bill for the relevant treatment at your next visit. We understand that things sometimes come up and that you may need to make changes to your appointment. We will always be as flexible as possible with our patients – that’s why the deposit will be refunded if you subsequently cancel the appointment with sufficient notice of cancellation. When we book an appointment for you, we commit that time and our resources to your treatment. This means that, if another patient wants to come at the same time, we will be unable to see them and will have to offer them an alternative time. At busy times, this can mean waiting over one week for the next available appointment (longer for Saturday appointments). If you do not then attend that appointment and either do not tell us in advance or give insufficient notice, we are unable to allocate the time to someone else; however, we still have overheads and staff salaries to pay during the unproductive time. For this reason, it is our policy to request deposits and make a charge if insufficient notice of cancellation or amendment is given.

Deposits

We make appointments with the expectation that you will attend at the agreed date & time to undergo your treatment; if you change your mind or work/other commitments prevent you from attending, we ask you to give as much notice as possible so that we can reallocate your appointment slot to another patient When booking your appointment, we will seek a deposit from you, payment of which is your confirmation of your commitment to attend your appointment. Our deposits are normally fully refundable providing sufficient notice of cancellation is given (see below) and will be set at the following levels:

• For Hygiene appointments, and other appointments of 30 mins or less we will take a deposit of £25.
• For Emergency and Consultation appointments we will take a deposit of £50
• For Dental Treatment Appointments
  • £50 (for appointments of 30 minutes or less)
  • £75 (for appointments over 45 minutes up to 1 hour)
  • £100 (for appointments over 1 hour)
• For any treatments lasting longer than 2 hours we will take a deposit amounting to half the cost of the total treatment
• For specialist appointments (such as implants or specialist endodontics) the deposit required may vary from specialist to specialist, dependent on the stage of the treatment and type of appointment. Full details of costs and deposits will be given throughout the treatment plans.

If you do not pay the deposit within the timescale you have agreed, we reserve the right to cancel your appointment and reallocate the time to another customer.

Cancellation

If you are unable to attend your appointment for any reason, then you should tell us as soon as possible and no later than:

· 24 hours before the scheduled start time for appointments of 60 minutes or less

· 48 hours before the scheduled start time for appointments of more than 60 minutes

Please note that Sundays and bank holidays will not be included in these timeframes so notice to cancel an appointment scheduled for a Monday or the day after a bank holiday must be given no later than the preceding working day (or the day before the preceding working day if the appointment is for more than one hour. Providing you give notice of cancellation or postponement/amendment no later than these deadlines, your deposit can be refunded to you on request. If you do not request refund of your deposit, it will be held on your account and may be used against the cost of future treatment.