New and Potential Patients

Selecting a dentist can be a challenge. At Village Family Dental and Orthodontics, we want to be your dental practice for life for you and your entire family.  We believe that regular check-ups and prompt treatment ensures you will maintain good oral health throughout your life.  We want all our patients to be happy with their smile and the care that we provide to you.

Most children do not require a pediatric dentist for their care, and should begin seeing a dentist once their first teeth erupt.  Many of our pediatric patients will come along with their mom, dad or siblings before their first check-up to give them a great experience.  Many children associate going to the doctor with unpleasant experiences, and this is not the impression we would like to make with your child.   We use simple terms and explanations to alleviate fear and anxiety. 

Appointments

Except in the case of emergencies, appointments are required for all treatment. Walk-in patients will be seen as time allows, not necessarily on a first-come, first-served basis, and shall not infringe on care for patients with scheduled appointments. Every effort is made by the dental staff to see patients in a timely manner and inform patients if there is a need to change or adjust their appointment time.

Appointments for Children

Your child should begin visiting the dentist as soon as their first tooth has erupted.  We see patients as early as 1 year old. This allows us to make sure your child's teeth are developing normally, and can allow us to correct development problems before treatments become extensive.

Fear of the unknown is the scariest!   We encourage your child to know what we're doing and how it helps them, but in a way that they can understand without big scary words like "doctor", "exam", and "cavity".  Before you bring your child in, let them know that the dentist is going to count their teeth and make sure there are no toothbugs!  You can also let them know that we have a prize waiting for them at the end of their visit.  We will take care of the rest.

Emergencies

If you have what you believe to be a dental emergency, please contact us as soon as possible, preferably by telephone, so that we may properly assign an appointment time to handle your problem.

Please be aware that we may have several emergencies at the same time.  If we are unable to see you immediately, it is because proper triage and scheduling prevents it.  If we are unable to see you in a timely manner, we will refer you to a colleague, specialist, or a emergency medical center.

Broken or Missed Appointments

Please review our policy on canceled or missed appointments here.

If you absolutely must reschedule, please give at least 24 hours notice (before 9am Friday for Monday appointments) to avoid possible broken appointment fees.   In some cases, especially for large appointment space, you may be asked to give greater notice.   There is generally no charge for missed appointments without 24 hours notice but our office holds the right to do so for reoccurring instances.

We realize there is always a good reason for not keeping a scheduled appointment.  It is not our intent to "punish" anyone for failing to come for treatment.  We have found, however, that it is best to be open and honest about what is expected. That way we may provide the highest quality dental treatment at the most reasonable cost possible. We ask our patients to honor their commitment to an appointment scheduled.

Priority List

Some patients, due to the nature of their job, health, etc., just cannot know until the last minute if they will be able to keep their appointment. If you are in this category, we maintain a list of patients that can come on short notice when time becomes available. Please advise the staff if you would like to be on this list. If you are contacted when a short-notice appointment is available, you may accept the appointment or decline. If you decline, we will try again at a later date.

Specialist Referrals

Most dental procedures can be successfully treated at our office. However, we reserve the right to refer you to a dental specialist for treatment if it is our option that a specialist is required. We refer only to specialists that we believe will render excellent patient care. Whether or not a specialist is in a certain dental insurance network, or whether or not treatment costs will be higher, are not factors in deciding if referral is necessary. Referrals are based solely on your dental needs and particular case. We can not determine whether or not there is a specialist that participates in your dental plan or what your costs may be at another practice.  The referring practice can help you with all of those questions.

Reminder Calls

We have implemented an automated texting service to help patients reserve their appointments in their calendars. If opted in, when you make an appointment, you will get a text confirming your appointment time.

The automated text service will also notify you of upcoming appointments. To confirm those appointments, simply follow the instructions. This usually means replying "C". Please keep in mind that if you do not reply "C", or reply with another message, the automated system will not register it as a confirmation, and may send you another text to ensure that you remember your reserved appointment.

Because we know you are busy and our patients keep their commitments, we do not disturb you with multiple reminder calls. If we do not receive a reply through the automated texting service, we will attempt to contact you once, one business day prior to your appointment, at a telephone number you designate. Please be sure to give us a number where you can be reached or that has an answering machine or voicemail so that we may leave a message if you are unable to answer. If the line is busy or otherwise unavailable, we regret that we do not have enough staff to repetitively attempt to contact you. For this reason, do not rely on a reminder call from our office staff.

Making Appointments for Others

Occasionally, an appointment will wish to be made for a spouse, older child, elderly relative, etc. We prefer that patients make their own appointments to prevent any miscommunication regarding date, time, or treatment to be provided. We will accept these appointments, but they are subject to all the other rules and expectations of appointments made personally. Please be sure that the patient(s) for whom you are making the appointment(s) understand they must keep the commitment you are making for them.