Community Chat

[Yardlie]

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@Mominohio wrote:

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@SahmIam wrote:

More of a rant than anything else. 

I've been taking my children to the same pediatric dentist for 18 years (the eldest switched this year to our regular dentist). Due to a last minute appointment change for him with a specialist, I had to call to change the time of my children seeing their dentist. I received the call about an hour ago and the appointment for their dentist is tomorrow at 5pm.

To do this, they are charging me $50 per child; they require 72 hours notice with no exception. I told them I'll find another dentist.

Called my regular dentist; he sees all ages so I transferred them to his practice. The fee to cancel is $25 with 24 hours notice BUT for long standing patients, they'll wave the fee.

We started with the pediatric dentist when she first started her practice. We've dealt with her cancellations, her running late, her employees screwing up, etc but never complained.  Last, this policy went into effect last month. BEFORE, the fee was $25 with 24 hours notice. I've had to change appointments due to my sons medical situation (something the dentist and office manager were aware of) and was never charged. 

Either it got really bad or... well I don't know. I also found out she only sees patients one day a week. The rest of the week? 5 dentists I've never heard of. Oh well.

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I haven't read all the replies, but I see your leaving. We,too, used our pediatric dentist for 18 years. Never missed an appointment, always paid in full at the time of service, no problems. 

Had we encountered a time where we had to cancel on short notice, I would expect to be given a pass. The office was always very full, and they often were running just far enough behind schedule that a cancellation here or there would have smoothed out their day some.

Doctors don't give you a percent off when they are running behind or have to call and change your appointment because of illness or schedule changes, so I expect if I'm a regular patient of yours, you'd better be equipped to accept that once every decade or so, I may have to make a last minute cancellation, without charging me a fee. Save that for the chronic offenders.

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Now that is the kind of patient a dentist wants! What are the chances that 20-30% of the time that you have dental appointments, some "emergency" comes up? Not likely. Dentists know that one in a blue moon, there will be a genuine excuse to cancel.

Also, I didn't even mention in my "rant" that the people who hate going to the dentist (major fear) break their appointments constantly. They usually schedule for the end of the day, because they think, "Then I won't have to go back to work." Well, by the end of the day, they are stressed out from work and can't handle the thought of adding to their stress by going to the dentist...so they come up with what they think is a believable excuse and cancel frequently. If you have a dental phobia, schedule your appointment first thing in the morning when you are fresh...or take the whole day off.

[Yardlie]

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@Mominohio wrote:

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@SahmIam wrote:

More of a rant than anything else. 

I've been taking my children to the same pediatric dentist for 18 years (the eldest switched this year to our regular dentist). Due to a last minute appointment change for him with a specialist, I had to call to change the time of my children seeing their dentist. I received the call about an hour ago and the appointment for their dentist is tomorrow at 5pm.

To do this, they are charging me $50 per child; they require 72 hours notice with no exception. I told them I'll find another dentist.

Called my regular dentist; he sees all ages so I transferred them to his practice. The fee to cancel is $25 with 24 hours notice BUT for long standing patients, they'll wave the fee.

We started with the pediatric dentist when she first started her practice. We've dealt with her cancellations, her running late, her employees screwing up, etc but never complained.  Last, this policy went into effect last month. BEFORE, the fee was $25 with 24 hours notice. I've had to change appointments due to my sons medical situation (something the dentist and office manager were aware of) and was never charged. 

Either it got really bad or... well I don't know. I also found out she only sees patients one day a week. The rest of the week? 5 dentists I've never heard of. Oh well.

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I haven't read all the replies, but I see your leaving. We,too, used our pediatric dentist for 18 years. Never missed an appointment, always paid in full at the time of service, no problems. 

Had we encountered a time where we had to cancel on short notice, I would expect to be given a pass. The office was always very full, and they often were running just far enough behind schedule that a cancellation here or there would have smoothed out their day some.

Doctors don't give you a percent off when they are running behind or have to call and change your appointment because of illness or schedule changes, so I expect if I'm a regular patient of yours, you'd better be equipped to accept that once every decade or so, I may have to make a last minute cancellation, without charging me a fee. Save that for the chronic offenders.

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No, no, no! Cancellations do not smooth out their day some. They create a lot of stress. Late patients cause the dentist/hygienist to get off schedule...along with emergencies. You know, the hygienist can't let her patient go until the dentist does the exam. So, if the dentist is behind, the hygienist is behind. Then the whole office is stressed.

Dentists hold staff meetings every morning to go through who is coming in that day, what they are having done, what x-rays and other things the dentist wants before s(he) comes in the room. If there are openings in the schedule, tremendous pressure is put on the staff to get on the phone and try to fill those openings...which is very difficult at the last minute as people already have their day planned. The dentist might also offer to do some extra work for a patient who is already in the chair if there is an opening....e.g. fill a cavity that day. That isn't always possible though. Also, at the morning staff meetings, most dentists these days discuss how much money they need to bring in that day based on the work they and the hygienist are doing...and based on office needs. When people don't show up or cancel at the last minute, that really messes up the plans for the day.

Many dentists base raises and end of the year bonuses on how good production has been. They have their accountant involved in all that. That motivates all the staff to work their butts off to keep the schedule full. So, they don't take kindly to late patients and people who cancel frequently. Also, some dentists do not pay staff to work after 5:00 pm...yet they often run late and have to stay to clean and organize the office after the last patient leaves.

Also, just another little dental office inside info. I have worked for dentists who will charge an "aggravation fee" ($25-35) to patients who are extremely demanding or annoying, constantly late, etc. It's not the dentist's fault if the traffic is bad. Couldn't you have left home earlier? We noticed that your hair and makeup look beautiful. And yes...they do document in your chart when you are 10 minutes late. There are some people who are 10-15 minutes late everytime, so pretty soon, the staff just lies to the patient and tells them that their appointment is 10 minutes earlier than it really is. There are other patients who are extremely responsible...never miss appointments, never late...in fact, they come early to sit and read.

Just sayin'.  I'm sure every profession (no matter what) has their list of gripes about the clients they serve. Afterall, it is first and foremost a business.

[AuntMame]

Can I rant for a moment here?

I wish I could charge my dentist for all the times they've cancelled appointments of mine at the last minute. In fact I just got a call the other day cancelling an appointment because the hygienist will be on vacation. Because they schedule 6 mos. to a year in advance I will not be able to get another appointment in a timely fashion.

I wish I could charge my dentist for all the times I've shown up for appointments only to be told "The hygienist is running an hour late with patients today, maybe you'd like to reschedule for another day?"

I wish I could charge my dentist a convenience fee whenever someone from the office calls and says "Several patients cancelled their appointments today. We see you have an appointment scheduled for 3 p.m. today. We'd like to consolidate our schedule and would like you to come in at either 10 a.m. or 12 p.m. instead." When I say no, I am not rescheduling, they call me again...and again...and again to badger. They send me texts and e-mails too. Until I call my dentist or an offfice manager to complain.

In all the years I've gone to this particular dental clinic, which I do like because the hygienists are meticulous and the dentists are good, I don't think I've ever had an appointment for which I haven't waited at least 20 to 30 minutes past the scheduled appointment time to get in. Often I have to wait as long as 40-50 minutes in the raucous waiting room with the screaming kids and the blasting TVs. I can only schedule appointments late in the day or after work for this reason.

Believe me I've tried other dental clinics in the area out of frustration, but the care ranged from inept to slap-dash, or else they weren't a part of my insurance network, so I guess I have to stick with the clinic with the chronic scheduling insanity. But it's extremely frustrating.

[Shorty2U]

You will be better off now that you switched, but boy that is a lot to charge for a cancellation.

I have never been charged any cancellation fees and I only missed one Dr appointment in my life But I often see the signs at Dr offices and Dentists about the fees (which is usually $25.00).. I think to myself, (like you said), they can do what they want. They can cancel or take an hour to wait on people but if you cancel or are late they charge or wont see you. I think maybe we as patients should be able to charge them! lol.

[qualitygal]

Good grief. My dentist has a plaque that reads to the effect of we want you to pay the day you get work done and you'll be charged w/o 24 hrs. notice if you cancel your appointment. So I'm not too thrilled when I'm kept waiting. I want to say but don't, do I get to subtract $$ from my bill while I set here on time, waiting for my appt.? Now if they say, I'm sorry but he had an emergency and will be with you soon, I'll understand. But if they just want to fill the waiting room making it look like they're so busy, I don't like that. Most places try not to have people waiting in that area. It bothers me only because their business dropped off after a large company in the area had changes and many were moved out of the area. So either they should extend their hours again, or be sure as much as possible, the patrons aren't kept waiting.

[Feliciti]

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@lulu2 wrote:

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@Feliciti wrote:

I've never had a doctor's office silly enough to send me a wild-guess appointment day and time. A card saying call to make an appointment, sure, but inconceivable that they should guess when you might be free.

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The appointment times are not wild guesses.  For routine check-ups most offices ask you to schedule your next appointment when you are checking out.  They send a reminder card.  If you did not schedule an appointment, a computer generated card is sent telling you it is time for a visit and asks you to call and schedule one.

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I forgot to use the quote feature, but whoever I was replying to WAS getting wild-guess appointments set for her by one of her dental or medical providers.

[Sunshine Kate]

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@SahmIam wrote:

@2blonde  Oh, I'm not paying their fee. I left the practice, therefore my children are no longer her dental patients.

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Good, you got the last laugh.

[Sunshine Kate]

Don't dentists realilze "life happens"?  

I dislike dentists that charge for cancellations.  Heaven forbid if they have to wait 30 minutes for the next patient to come in. 

Dentists that charge a cancellation fee tells me they have a small practice and are not doing well. 

[SahmIam]

Hey everyone, OP here:

My kids love the dentist (my dentist who owns a family practice) and no issues what-so-ever since we changed. My 10 year old PREFERS him because you're in and out and no screaming kids (which scares the other kids waiting for their turn).

Believe it or not, I'm STILL getting reminder calls and emails to make up for their "missed" appointments.

Yeah. Right. THank you all for posting your thoughts; I see I'm not the only one that hates the hypocrisy. Cheers!!

[CouponQueen]

@depglass I had a GYN who was booked months in advance to get an appt. He is (or was) very into the nature method etc..selling vitamins..mid wives on staff..he let them bring their infants in...breast feeding in one hand doing finger stick in the other..hey...lol..

So I was waiting one day forever...and I could hear him go from room to room..and the convo..him and his wife just started doing botox injections and was having an open house and was inviting each patient....well that made me LOL as all you see is everything holistic in the office..and all extracts..signs..information and they are now injecting people with botox? 

He comes in ..gives me his speil..and he said I can tell you are thinking something by the way you have your lip in your mouth...I figured he is down to earth..(wears flannel shirts, birkenstocks with socks lol..) and told him..he asked!   I said I am trying to figure out how you made the connection from GYN and natural holistic births and health treatment to injecting people with botulism?

He said if you look it that way..you have a point but didn't mention it again. He is still in practice..still hard to get into visit but has been joined up with local hospital who is eating up all the private practices of specialties..and is under their "umbrella" now..so he does what they say.

Now onto the Dentist..one time I was on the way to taking my daughter to the dentist and we literally had a fatal car accident happen right in front of us..the driver instantly killed with a broken neck and his head was literally facing the back seat..car sideways in the road..driving facing us..my daughter was about 8...Cops arrived ..took our info and told me to get her out of there ..well bit late but I was thankful for him caring..well I had to call the dentist..they told us not to reschedule as we obviously do not value their time..huh??  Our first and only late/cancel issue. I was shocked lol..I mean stuff like that happens..what would you like me to do...