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Parent Involvement in Preventive and Operative Procedures
We welcome one parent or guardian to accompany their child to the operatory for comfort. However, it is not required, as we promote self-independence to aid your child’s growth and development. To ensure the safety and privacy of other patients, we request that all others, including children not scheduled for an appointment, remain in the reception area.
During operative procedures, parents are not allowed in the treatment area for safety reasons. We utilize techniques such as tell-show-do and kindness to obtain your child’s cooperation.
Exams and Appointments
At all initial and recall exam appointments, we complete an exam, prophylaxis, radiographs as needed, fluoride treatment, and preventive sealants.
We strive to ensure your child’s safety and may need to discuss alternative treatment options if your child exhibits significant uncooperative behavior during operative treatment. In light of the current pandemic, we require 48-hour advance notice for appointment cancellations and apply a cancellation fee for missed appointments.
Rescheduling or Canceling
To best serve our patients, we aim to maintain an efficient and effective appointment and scheduling process. Effective June 1, 2020, we require a 48-hour advance notice for appointment cancellations and apply a cancellation fee for missed appointments.
The cancellation fee is $50 per patient for cleaning and preventive appointments and $200 per patient for restorative treatment appointments. This fee is not covered by insurance and is the patient’s responsibility. Future appointments may be affected, and dismissal from the office is possible if a pattern of missed appointments is established.
Dismissal Office Policy
Our Commitment
Washington Pediatric Dentistry is committed to providing quality, compassionate, and comprehensive dental care for children. There is a high demand for the services we provide, and our practice is growing in an effort to help meet the needs of our community. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we aim to help you and your family SMILE with us.
Mask Requirement
In an effort to help keep our patients, their families, and our staff safe, face masks are required for all individuals over the age of 2 years.
We are a medical facility
We are dedicated to minimizing the spread of disease. If your child is staying home from school due to illness the day of his/her appointment, please call us to reschedule that appointment as soon as possible. We also ask that siblings who may be home from school that day due to illness not accompany you and your child to the office. If your child has a cold, fever, runny nose, open sore or other possibly contagious condition, we ask that you call us ahead of time to determine the eligibility of your child for treatment that day (especially if your child is coming in for a sedation or nitrous appointment). If necessary, we will do what we can to accommodate you if we must reschedule your appointment, but ultimately your child’s comfort as well as the health of our other children, parents and staff are our top priorities.
General Policies
The parent/legal guardian may not leave the office or hallway of Washington Pediatric Dentistry during a child’s dental visit. If the parent/guardian leaves the office area or hallway during patient care, please understand that treatment may be stopped, and the child may have to be rescheduled for treatment to be completed.
Washington Pediatric Dentistry requests that the parent/legal guardian remains in the reception area or hallway during the patient’s dental visit.
The parent/legal guardian MUST BE PRESENT at the first dental visit (with photo identification and must provide proof of guardianship) to complete new patient paperwork and give consent for treatment. Foster parents and/or guardians must also provide the document that gives consent from the county to provide diagnostic and preventive services for the child. Without proper documentation or the required adult, the appointment may be canceled, resulting in a missed appointment.
If the patient is scheduled for treatment, all efforts will be made from our staff to complete the appointment. If the parent prevents the treatment from being completed during the child’s appointment, a fee will be applied.
Parent presence
We do not allow parents in the operatory during treatment. Even if the child is not nervous, usually the parent has some level of anxiety about the procedure, and kids can so easily pick up on these emotions. Without the parent in the room, my assistant and I get the full attention of the child to direct them through the procedure. We are specially trained on how to manage children during these situations, and we focus on distracting the child with specific conversations or the TV above their heads, helping them breathe well with the nitrous oxide/laughing gas, and moving quickly to complete the procedure as painlessly and easily as possible.
For new patients, we encourage the parent to be in the operatory so that we can discuss findings, explain treatment, learn more about the child’s dental history, and to provide additional information.
Missed Appointment Policy
Washington Pediatric Dentistry requires a 48-business hours’ notice for cancellation of any appointment. If a 48-business hours’ notice is not given, it will be counted as a missed or cancelled appointment and the following outcomes will apply, depending on the circumstance:
New Patients to the practice, if you call to cancel with less than 48 business hours’ notice, the ability to schedule an appointment in advance will be lost and a child may be seen on a Same Day Only basis (see below).
New Patients to the practice who NO CALL and NO SHOW to the first appointment will be inactivated indefinitely and Washington Pediatric Dentistry will not enter a doctor/patient/parent relationship with the family.
Existing patients, after three missed appointments (no-show or cancel with less than 48 business hours’ notice), the ability to schedule an appointment in advance will be lost and a child may be seen on a Same Day Only basis. Cancellation fees will apply.
Patients that have missed (cancellations or no show) confirmed sedation and hospital appointments will be inactivated and dismissed from the practice.
Late Patient Policy
Washington Pediatric Dentistry will try to work a late patient into the schedule, if possible, and planned treatment may be modified based on the time available. However, if a child arrives more than 15 minutes late for the appointment, please understand that the appointment may be canceled and counted as a missed appointment.
Same Day Only
A new patient may be placed in Same Day Only (SDO) status when an appointment is canceled with less than 48 business hours’ notice. An existing patient may be placed in SDO status when three missed appointments have occurred (no-show or cancel with less than 48 business hours’ notice). A new patient who presents with a non-custodial parent or legal guardian without proper guardianship documents authorizing the adult to provide medical/legal consent for our dental services may have the appointment canceled and counted as a missed appointment.
Being placed in SDO status limits your ability to make an appointment for your child in advance. You can call on the same day patient care is taking place and see if there is availability in the schedule for your child to be seen on the same day. If you are offered an appointment and you keep the appointment, you regain the ability to schedule future appointments. If a future appointment is missed, your child will return to SDO status, and your family risks being dismissed from the practice.
Inactive Patients Policy
We are committed to providing regular dental visits every 6 months to monitor a child’s growth and development. If your child has not been seen by our provider in 12 months, we will conclude that you have secured a dental home with another provider. Your child’s chart will be inactivated, and they will be dismissed from the practice.
Children who NO CALL and NO SHOW up for their first appointment, graduate from the practice, are transferred to another dentist, or have outstanding account balances greater than 90 days and/or are sent to collections, will be inactivated, and dismissed from the practice.
Refusal of x-rays
As a specialist providing the standard of care established by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, Dr. Jordan strongly believes that children should have routine x-rays including a panoramic x-ray every 3 years and bitewing x-rays every 6-12 months. These x-rays provide the ability to detect early cavities, cysts, extra teeth, missing teeth, infections, tumors, and other potential problems. There are no other reasonable options to dental x-rays exists at time. Our office’s use of digital imaging and lead protective devices minimize the exposure of your child to radiation. I understand that my child/children may be dismissed from the office due to refusal of x-rays.
Refusal of treatment
Dental conditions tend to worsen with time if they are not addressed and clinical recommendations are disregarded. If you have refused or failed to complete the recommended treatment that has been discussed with you, your child/children may be inactivated and dismissed from the office.
Grounds for Dismissal
Washington Pediatric Dentistry is a professional healthcare environment where children are our primary focus. Therefore, we have zero tolerance for the following behaviors/actions: disrespect, hate speech, being argumentative, using profane language, challenging our policies, refusing to update paperwork as required for regulatory compliance, threats, violence, and bringing a firearm, or any weapon, into our office. Any of these behaviors/actions are all grounds for immediate dismissal from the practice. Once a dismissal notice has been given, our team is unable to discuss the matters further.