Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve put together a list of our most frequently asked questions, and answers which we hope will prove useful to those wanting to know more. If you’re looking for an answer to a question that you can’t see listed below, or would like to ask your own question. Please just let us know by sending an enquiry through the contact form and we’ll respond to you as soon as we can. If we feel your question would be useful to other patients – we’ll included your question and our answer here for their future reference.
Since 2006 the term ‘registration’ no longer exists for NHS dentistry, this was altered when the dental contract was changed. Due to the large volume of patients wishing to receive NHS dental care we will no longer see patients for an NHS examination who have not attended for 2 our more years.
We only accept new children of parents or guardians who are regular attenders at the practice. Consideration will be given if a parent or guardian attends privately at the practice for their children to be accepted as an NHS patient.
We currently have an NHS waiting list that is closed. It currently has over 2000 people waiting for a place with our practice. We cannot currently give an estimated timeframe as to when we will be actively able to accept patients onto our NHS contract. To be added to the waiting list please call the reception team on 01709 700780
The NHS will not provide cosmetic treatments such as dental implants, teeth whitening or smile line. However, you can choose to have these treatments on a private basis but remain as an NHS patient.
At least 24 hours’ notice before your appointment is due to take place. Any less than this your appointment will be recorded as a short notice cancellation and may result in your place with our practice getting reviewed.
We cannot keep NHS courses of treatment open indefinitely. If you do not book in for any recommended treatment, we will contact you a maximum of 3 times to remind you that you have outstanding treatment. If an appointment is not booked by yourselves after the 3rd contact, we will close the course of treatment. This will mean you will need to pay again for a new examination and a new course of treatment.
It is the patient’s responsibility to keep the practice up to date with new contact details such as change of address, contact number, or email address. The preferred method would be to call our reception team on 01709 700780 alternatively update in practice on your next appointment or fill out a contact form on our website.
Our clinicians require an up-to-date medical history for each patient on every visit. This is so they can ensure the treatment they carry out can be done so safely & are aware of any potential changes to the patients’ medical history since their last visit. Any changes to medical history could potentially cause a change of treatment plan.
The FP17PR form is a requirement requested by NHS England and is a form a patient signs to consent to treatment. An PF17PR form must be completed for each course of NHS dental treatment.