Office Policies
My staff and I appreciate your selection to serve your children's dental needs. Our goal in this practice is to provide the very best possible care for our patients so that each achieves optimal dental health throughout their lifetime.
Our entire staff operates as a team. We take great pride in each staff member's training and capabilities. We want you to have the same confidence that we do and let them serve you fully. We feel that the more you know about our policies, the more we can be of service to you.
Hours of Business
Our office hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The office is closed between 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and selected Fridays. If you call the office at this time, please leave a message on the answering machine. We will call you back as soon as possible.
Emergency Care
If you feel your child requires emergency treatment, please call before coming to the office. If this is after office hours or holidays etc., Dr. Sanchez can be reached by calling 205-930-4240. Leave a message, and Dr. Sanchez will call you back as soon as possible. She will determine at that time whether she needs to meet with you at the office or if it can wait until the next business day. Should it be necessary that you need to come in after hours, an additional charge applies, and you will be billed accordingly.
Appointments
Patients are seen by appointment only, so please call in advance so that we may reserve a time for you. Patients attending school: to be fair to each patient, and realizing that we cannot see all our patients after school, we can alternate if they need a series of appointments to complete treatment. We can provide an excuse if one is necessary.
If you are 15 minutes late or more, there is no guarantee that the patient will be able to be seen. If that is the case, you will have to reschedule.
Cancellations of Appointments
If you are unable to keep an appointment, please notify us immediately by calling 205-477-8004. A 24-hour notice would be greatly appreciated.
Not Keeping Appointments
If a patient simply does not show up for an appointment, our office reserves the right to charge a missed appointment fee of $40 per patient. If there were multiple patients scheduled together in one family, we cannot guarantee that future appointments will be scheduled together again.
Fees and Payments
Our office will submit all insurance submissions for treatment. Any co-pay amounts or deductibles will need to be paid the day of service. If there is a previous balance due on the account, that prior balance must be paid the day new charges are incurred. Any difference in fees between what your insurance company will pay and what our charges are, must be paid the day of service.
We have a variety of payment options. Cash, check, MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express and CareCredit. If a check is returned from the bank for non-sufficient funds, a $35 processing fee will be charged.
If you have special circumstances and you need to make payment arrangements, please notify our front desk personnel.
General Information
Parents or responsible party must remain in the office during patient treatment.
PLEASE, we ask that no food or drink be brought into the office.
Cell phone use is allowed in the reception area. Cell phone use is not allowed in treatment areas and conference room.