by Lisa Fillers

Created on: February 23, 2011

Far too many people neglect the health of their teeth until an emergency arises and expect a dentist to see them on demand when one occurs.  I have seen this happen repeatedly while working in the dental field.  Unfortunately, most of these same people fail to show for follow up appointments and do not have the common courtesy to call and cancel the appointment.  This leaves a hole in the dentist's schedule that most likely cannot be filled at the last moment.  Few people realize the expense of maintaining a dental office is equivalent to operating a miniature hospital.

Dental appointments are made in one and two hour increments in most dental offices.  A dental exam or a cleaning appointment is allotted one hour.  When the appointment is for work to be done, such as fillings or preparation for a crown, the receptionist is asked to allot two hours to the patient.  When a patient does not show for an appointment and has not called they are running late or cancelled the appointment, it falls to the office staff to replace the patient.  The receptionist or office manager will begin calling patients who live or work close to the office to see if they would like to come in earlier than scheduled.  It is almost impossible to replace a one hour appointment.  By the time the replacement patient could arrive in the office to be seen more than half the broken appointment time has passed.

Broken appointments cost the dentist lost revenue and leave the office staff with an irritable dentist.  If the patient who did not show for an appointment is a patient of record and simply forgot the appointment despite a confirmation call, the patient will be rescheduled without a problem.  However, many dentists will not allow the staff to schedule that patient for their first morning appointment or first afternoon appointment as they return from lunch.  This is especially true if the patient of record has broken more than one appointment.

If the patient was new to the office and fails to show for a follow up appointment this raises a red flag to the dentist and office staff.  Many drug addicts use dental emergencies as an excuse to seek prescriptions and dentists are well aware of this.  It may very well be the patient does not have the financial means to follow through with treatment.  If this is the case, the patient needs to convey their financial situation to the dentist during the emergency exam.  Many dentists will give a new patient the benefit of doubt and set them up on a payment plan.

Rather than refuse to see a patient who calls in with an emergency and has broken multiple appointments, the staff will probably offer an appointment two weeks or more from the emergency call.  This forces the caller to seek another dentist.

Your dental health should be a priority.  Seek regular dental exams and practice good oral hygiene.  On those occasions when you see you will not be able to keep a future appointment, be courteous and call the dental office to reschedule.

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