Terms of Business

Terms of Business

New and existing patients

We are always pleased to welcome new patients or returning patients who may have lapsed due to busy lives and circumstances. We want to ensure that your experience is pleasant.

When you first contact us, you will be invited to discuss your dental health and aspirations with either the dentist or treatment coordinator.

New patients will normally be asked to book a new patient examination with one of our dentists.   This examination allows the dentist to perform a thorough review of your teeth, gums and mouth to have a preliminary conversation with you about your oral health and appearance of your smile.   You will have the opportunity to ask any questions or discuss any problems.

On some occasions the dentist may recommend x rays are taken such as a standard intraoral X-ray, panoramic x ray or CT scan.  You may be asked to consent to an x ray.

Any charges relating to x rays will be discussed prior to the x ray being taken.

Your Medical History

We will ask you to record your medical history at most appointments.   This information is vital to ensure that any treatment provided to you is delivered safely and that we can care for you properly in an emergency.   It is a legal requirement that we have an updated medical history on record.

On occasion we may also ask for additional information such as medical records from your General Medical Practitioner (GP)

We may ask you to complete your medical via the online portal or when you arrive at each appointment.

We regret that we are unable to treat patients who refuse to complete a medical history form when requested.

Treatment letters and other medical related correspondence

At your examination the dentist will always inform you of the options relating to treatment as well as the fees and you will be given a copy of a treatment plan.

Occasionally, such as complex treatments/surgical treatment, we will need to write to you regarding your treatment or dental health.   We will normally send all such correspondence by email.

We cannot guarantee that correspondence sent by email is secure.   You should ensure that access to your email address is private and that you do not share this email address with other people.   For this reason, we recommend that you don’t use a work or corporate email address.

Planned Treatment

To ensure prescribed treatment can be delivered at a time and date that suits you, we ask all patients to book treatment appointments at the time they are prescribed.

For patients who are unable to do so, we will contact you to remind you that you are due a routine examination if one is not booked.   We do this via email, text or telephone courtesy call.

Appointment Feedback

Your feedback is very important to us, and we value your comments to help us continue to deliver high standards of care.  After your appointment we will usually follow up on the service you have received.   We will email an invitation to complete review/feedback.

Emergency Dental Care

We endeavour to provide all registered dental patients with an emergency same day appointment.  Where there is no duty dentist during working hours, we will do our best to arrange suitable cover with an alternative practice.

Inactive patients (not visited more than 2 years) aren’t eligible for emergency same day appointments; however, we will always make every effort to see if there is availability on the day.

A deposit will be taken for new emergency patients

There is a call out charge for out of hours/weekend emergency dental care.

The Dental Practices

Your appointments will usually be at the practice you join, however some of your appointments may be provided at either location, Meadow Walk Dental or The Gallery Dental and Implant Centre and we will always keep you informed prior to your appointment.

Appointment Confirmations

During booking, we will ask you if you would like confirmation of the appointment by text/email.   If so, you will receive a separate automated email confirmation for each appointment booked.   If you wish to decline this service, you will not receive an email confirmation, but you will be asked again when booking future appointments.

A printed confirmation of your appointment can also be provided when booking an appointment in person.

Please note that whilst we make our best efforts to confirm your next appointment with us, we must advise you that you take full responsibility for attending the practice at the correct time and date.   Please do check as you may receive more than one message particularly with family appointments or when multiple appointments are on the same day.

Appointment Reminders

By default, we will remind you of any upcoming appointments as follows:

• 5 days prior by email
• 2 days prior, by text message

You can ask us not to send reminders if you wish

Our Deposits/Cancellations and Failed to Attend Policy applies regardless of whether you receive an appointment reminder – reminders are offered to our patients as a courtesy, and you should not rely on them to keep your appointment.

We regret that we are not able to offer personal reminders of appointments by telephone.

Deposits

A number of services we provide, especially surgical treatments, involve a significant investment in terms of preparation time and materials.   For many treatments, the materials we order, and use are bespoke to the patient and the treatment being delivered.   In addition, the clinical team will take a significant amount of time to prepare for the treatment, to ensure our high standards are consistently met.

Deposits, Cancellations and Failed to Attend Policy

To ensure each patient receives individual attention, we set aside dedicated time for each appointment.

Deposits are taken at the time of the appointment booking for all services excluding existing patient examinations

Deposits

• £30 for hygiene appointments
• £50 for new patient examinations
• £50 for new patient emergency appointments
• £50 for Invisalign consultations
• £50 for Implant consultations
• £500 for first implant appointment (treatment)

Cancellations and failed to attend appointments

In the event you find it necessary to cancel an appointment, we ask you to provide us with 24 hours working days’ notice to avoid losing your deposit.

Repeated cancellations/failed to attend appointments with less than 24 hours working day cancellations

The clinician may refuse further appointments and your treatment continuity due to continued lost time which affected the availability for other patients. The clinician may ask for payment in advance for future appointments.

Patients with membership plans

Patients on membership plans do not need to pay deposits for their hygiene appointments.  Missed or late cancellations count as one of your planned allocated appointments.

On very rare occasions, where a clinician is unwell or there is a problem with our facilities we may be required to reschedule your appointment at short notice.   We always endeavour to see patients where facilities and clinical resources allow but we will not proceed with appointments where we are unable to ensure our usual high standards.   We ask our patients understanding in these circumstances.

Payment Terms

We may charge a deposit for some courses of treatment (see Deposits, Cancelations and Failed to Attend Policy above)

Where deposits are taken at the time of booking, we ask for the balance to be paid at the end of each appointment.  Where multiple treatment appointments are booked there will be a charge at each stage of treatment which will be made clear to you.

We accept the following methods of payment:

Mastercard, Visa debit and credit

Cash payments up to a maximum of £3,000 per course of treatment

BACs transfer with prior arrangement prior to your appointment.  

To find out about patient finance call the reception team/treatment coordinator.  

Promotions and discounts

From time to time both practices occasionally have promotions.    Promotional treatments and discounts are limited to that offer only and are not in conjunction with any other offer including membership plans which already have discounts as part of the membership plan.

Guarantee

All guarantees are conditional on the patient attending your dental examination and hygienist appointments at the prescribed intervals (as prescribed by your dentist). The guarantee does not apply where the damage to the restoration has been caused by trauma or accidental breakage.

All guarantees are covered for any work carried out by the Gallery Dental and Implant Centre and Meadow Walk Dental Practice.

Refunds

Refunds will be refunded via the original payment card/method used initially.

Debts

Should we find that an amount is owing to us we will ask that you settle this within 7 days.   We may also decline to provide further treatments or services until the balance is settled.  

Withdrawing from treatment

If you choose not to proceed at any stage after your treatment has commenced, fees for treatment delivered to date will be charged.   Please note that the fees due will reflect the actual treatment delivered and may differ from the original treatment plan. There may also be fees for any laboratory costs/materials tailored and purchased for your treatment and are non-refundable once you have chosen to proceed laboratory fees/(Invisalign/Dental Implants/Sedation/Wrinkle Relaxation)

Visiting as a referral patient

Many of our patients are referred to us formally by their regular dentist or another medical professional for specific diagnosis or treatments.

If you are referred to us you will remain a patient of your regular dentist, but you will be subject to our terms of business for any treatment delivered by us.

You are not obliged to undertake any treatment with us, and we will treat you with the same high level of care and attention that we treat our existing patients.

We will do our best not to contact you for marketing purposes after your treatment is completed with us.

Inactive Patients

A patient who is marked as inactive will not be contacted regarding routine examinations and is not expected to attend the practice on a regular basis.

We will mark you as inactive at your request or if you have not attended the practice for an examination for 2 years or more.

If you return after 2 years your examination will be treated as a new patient examination which is a longer appointment.

Marketing

From time to time, we will email special offers about events at the practice to keep you informed of any changes you may find of interest.  You will be automatically be “opted in”  for the practice to contact/email you.

If you wish to “opt out” you, please inform our reception team.

Data Protection/Discussing your treatments with others

We use a number of systems and controls to protect your data, including secure computer databases.

It is our policy to computerise medical records.   Paper records are subject to error or loss.   You may be asked to complete some forms electronically via your own personal portal.

If you require a copy of your records, medical records, x-rays or if you have any questions about your medical records, please do not hesitate to contact the Clinical Manager.

If you would like us to discuss your treatment with family members, then we must record your permission.  We ask you to email the practice from your personal email address (or send a letter signed letter).

You can revoke the permission given to us at any time by contacting us.

Please note that in limited circumstances we are required by law to disclose your medical records and/or personal information to certain bodies or government organisations.   These requirements are not subject to your permission and in many cases, we are not obliged to disclose to you that a request for information has been received and/or fulfilled.

We will of course normally discuss the care of child patients with their parents and or legal guardians.

Complaints

We welcome feedback o the service we provide and, in particular, want to hear about any problems you may have experienced so that we can deal with them and improve our service in future.

If you have a complain about any aspect of our service, please speak to a member of our team and we will do our best to address your concerns.

If we cannot do so to your satisfaction, you may wish to make a complaint by phone or in writing.   To expedite the process, please contact:

Bil Hassan, Clinical Manager

Email Bil@thegallerydental.co.uk

We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working day and to respond fully within 10 working days.

Consent

We will ask you to sign your treatment estimate when it is presented to you.   This is to ensure you understand it and to confirm that it has been issued to you as well as confirmation that you agree to abide  by our terms and conditions and settle the costs quoted if treatment does proceed.  It does not in any way commit you to any costs until treatment commences, nor does it require that you undergo any treatment.

The document will normally be presented to you following your examination or treatment planning appointment.   A course of treatment cannot begin without a signed treatment estimate in place.

It is important to understand that the fees quoted are an estimate and that the final costs of treatment may be higher or lower than the original estimate.   We will always keep you informed if costs do change as treatment progresses, asking you how to proceed on these occasions.

Your dentist will have already discussed the treatment options available,, but should you require further explanation or discussion, please raise your query with the reception team who will be happy to help or refer you back to your dentist.

Your treatment estimate is valid for 90 days.   If you do not proceed with the treatment during this period, or your circumstances have changed, a new treatment estimate may be required, which may involve attending an additional consultation with your dentist.

For complex treatments, you may be provided with additional documents including treatment report or planning letter, a consent document and/or a payment schedule.   Some of these documents may require your signature.   These form part of the consent process and you should ensure that you read them carefully and retain copies for your reference.