It’s happened to everyone. The dental appointment you knew was coming up slipped your mind or just didn’t make it into your calendar. Whatever the case, you get that sinking feeling that comes with knowing you are going to be late. What do you do? What happens with your appointment? How does it affect the dental office?
This is a multi-faceted issue that affects all medical fields, and there are so many ways to look at this seemingly harmless mistake. We will do our best to take every side into account as fairly and honestly as possible, so let’s look at what happens at Smile Hilliard.
Everyone’s Time Is Valuable
First and foremost, we want to be fair to everyone involved. With that said, everyone’s time is valuable, including the patient who is late, the patients that are waiting for the next appointment slot, the office staff, and yes, even the dentist. Everyone involved is operating on a schedule for their day and certainly is not looking forward to any delays in that schedule. Other patients do not want to be forced to wait beyond their appointment slot, the administration team doesn’t want to rush through any necessary forms or insurance information, and the hygienist and dentist certainly don’t want to rush through the planned procedures.
Can’t You Fit Me In?
At Smile Hilliard, we do our best to adapt to unexpected issues and try to be as flexible as possible for each of our patients. However, there are many things that are needed from start to finish for every type of dental appointment, from routine check-ups, cleanings and evaluations to treatment procedures like fillings. It is essential that none of these steps are rushed, skipped, or deemed unimportant.
One of the most crucial aspects of the Smile Hilliard philosophy is our dedication to quality care. This can be easily compromised if we feel stressed and overwhelmed due to strains in the schedule created by late patients. Therefore, if we feel that we would be unable to complete your appointment to the best of our ability, we may have to reschedule part or all of your appointment to another day.
If you are late, please consider the following tips:
- Call us as soon as you are aware that you are going to be late and give us your best approximation as to when you will make it to your appointment.
- Avoid the anxiety of “coming up with a good story.” We just want to help you and our other patients receive the best dental care…no elaborate story needed!
- Please review our appointment policy on our website or given in the green folder at your initial visit.
- Please, please, please do your best to make your appointments on time or a little early. At Smile Hilliard, we strive for efficiency and teamwork, so arriving early might allow you to be done and enjoying the rest of your day ahead of schedule!
This is what we do on our end:
- We will be empathetic and kind to you when we find out that you are going to be late. We know that it is not intentional and that you may be feeling anxious about it.
- We will ask specific questions about your location, expected time of arrival, and take into consideration the nature of the appointment and the rest of the day’s schedule. Our administrative team is the bridge between you and seeing your hygienist and dentist, and they will do what is best for both parties, whenever possible.
- Every day we analyze the schedule to see when there might be flexibility to move other patients to swap with a late patient. Of course, it is not always possible to shuffle the schedule on short notice.
- Lastly, we will always defer to making sure we give our utmost attention to each patient to deliver the highest quality care that all patients deserve, so we may have to reschedule your appointment to another day.
Reach Out Today!
We are proud of the great service and care we deliver to each patient and hold fast to the policies that allow us to never compromise this philosophy. Please call us at (614) 534-0257 to schedule an appointment or if you have questions about our practices and policies.
