Boring / Important Policy Stuff:

Late Arrival, Late Cancellation & No Show Policy (updated June 2024)

Caring Tree Children’s Dentistry loves helping kids. We try to see as many kids as we can each day without anyone feeling rushed or delayed. This requires careful planning and coordination among many individuals in our office as well as our patient families.

We also understand that emergencies arise in your lives from time to time, just as they do for us. However, when a family is late for an appointment, fails to show for an appointment or cancels without enough notice, we cannot use that time to help other families. We have many families who may be waiting to address their children’s needs. No shows, late arrivals and late cancellations typically don’t allow us enough time to contact these families to bring them in sooner. Surely, you would want the same opportunity if your child was waiting to see the dentist.

A patient has violated our terms when they either fail to show or cancel an appointment with less than 24 hour notice. For Monday appointments, cancellations must be made by noon on the preceding Friday. For each violation, the patient will receive a text and/or email notice of the policy violation as well as a link for payment of our $25 fee for the violation. This fee is accessed on a per patient basis, not on a family basis. Continued occurrences may result in dismissal from the practice.

A late arrival is considered 15 or more minutes after the scheduled appointment time. In cases of late arrivals, we will attempt to complete some or all the scheduled procedures. However, if this is not possible due to time constraints or if the patient is unwilling to do this, the appointment will be rescheduled and the $25 late arrival fee per patient will be accessed.

Fees must be paid within 30 days of the missed appointment or at the time of rescheduled appointment, whichever comes first. Failure to make the payment will result in the rescheduled appointment being canceled. The fees charged pursuant to this policy are not payable by insurance companies.

In the event of an actual emergency and prior notice could not be given, consideration may be given, at the Office Manager or Dentist’s discretion.

Deposit Requirement for Additional Treatment (updated June 2024)

Caring Tree requires a deposit for all appointments that involve treatment beyond that of the semi-annual cleaning and exam. This would apply to, for example, extractions, fillings, crowns, Oral Sedation and General Anesthesia appointments, etc.

Deposit Structure
A $50 deposit is required for all treatment before the appointment can be scheduled. If the patient no-shows, arrives late or attempts to reschedule with less than 48 hour notice, the deposit will be forfeited. See above for more info regarding late arrivals. A new $50 deposit will be required to reschedule the appointment.

A $200 deposit is required for all General Anesthesia and Oral Sedation appointments before the appointment can be scheduled. If the patient no-shows, arrives late or attempts to reschedule with less than 1 week notice, the deposit will be forfeited. See above for more info regarding late arrivals. A new $200 deposit will be required to reschedule the appointment.

Assuming the patient shows for the appointment, the deposit will be applied to any balance due for the days’ treatment. If no patient portion is owed, the deposit can either be kept in the patient’s account for future treatment or returned to the patient on the day of treatment.

In the event of an actual emergency and prior notice could not be given, consideration may be given, at the Office Manager or Dentist’s discretion.