Appointment Policy
Attending appointments allows your treatment to progress as planned.
This page answers frequently asked questions about scheduling orthodontic appointments, reminders, school and work excuse, rescheduling, cancellations, and late arrivals.
Scheduling orthodontic appointments
Inconveniencing your work schedule and interrupting your child’s studies as infrequently as possible is important to our entire office. Since the vast majority of our patients attend school or work, it is unavoidable that some school or work time appointments will be necessary.
We will be glad to work around certain classes, meetings, or business travels that are very important. We provide school and work excuses for scheduled orthodontic appointments and it is important for your child to turn these in to the appropriate school or human resources official.
Long appointments: The placement and removal of braces, expanders, space maintainers, and aligners are detailed and technique-sensitive. Therefore, these appointments will be scheduled during our quieter hours - late morning or early afternoon.
Emergencies: Pain, swelling, or bleeding may result from trauma to the face or mouth. These patients will be seen as soon as possible and appropriate care given or referred to another specialist for treatment.
Repairs: Loose bands or brackets, broken archwires, ties, appliances and retainers are always scheduled during school hours at a specific time since they are long visits.
Broken appointments: Appointments broken or cancelled within 48 hours may require waiting several weeks for the next available appointment. An shorter maintenance visit during school or work hours may be arranged sooner.
Confirmation
Appointments are confirmed at the time of booking. Most patients put the appointment in their phone’s calendar while we put the appointment in our practice’s calendar.
The appointment date and time can be sent at the time of booking to an email address at your request.
Reminders
Appointment reminders can be sent to an email address at your request.
School and work excuse
You will receive a written school and work excuse when you attended your orthodontic appointment. Some schools and workplaces request prior notice - please use the email with the appointment and date for this purpose.
Rescheduling
Use the “Manage Appointment” link in your appointment’s email. Self-service rescheduling is available up to 48 hours prior to the reserved time. There is no additional fee to reschedule an appointment.
If you change the date of an appointment, please choose a new date within one week of the original date. A risk of choosing a different date is that you may require a different treatment than planned.
Cancellation
If an appointment is cancelled or broken, you will want to schedule a new appointment. The new date should be within one week of the original date to prevent a delay in treatment. We want your treatment to stay on track :-)
Please note that availability may be limited. When scheduling a new appointment after a missed appointment, some patients are frustrated to see the only available same-week appointments are during school or work. A risk of choosing a later date is that you may delay your treatment.
If you are unable to visit our office for a longer planned visit, then the best option may be a shorter maintenance visit to prevent the loss of treatment progress. Treatment would advance at a future appointment at the usual interval.
There is no additional fee for a cancelled appointment. Additional fees may apply when treatment extends beyond the estimated months of treatment.
Late arrival
If you arrive late for an appointment, you can choose one of the following options:
- Schedule a new appointment for the planned procedure, or
- Stay to complete as much of the planned procedure as possible.
We ask for your understanding that the amount of treatment that can be completed during your visit depends on the time promised to other patients.
Frequently asked questions
Can you email a reminder to two email addresses?
Yes, appointment reminders can be sent to several email addresses.
What if I do not get a reminder?
Please attend your appointment - even if a reminder from our office gets lost in cyberspace :-)
Will you send me a text reminder?
No reminders are sent by text.
Will you call my phone to remind me?
No reminders are done by phone. We may call you if Dr. Viechnicki requests information in advance of your visit.
What if I can't make it to my appointment?
Choose a new time within 1 week of the original date using the "Manage Appointment" link in your appointment's email.
What if I need an extra visit because something broke?
You will want to call our office. If you are in pain, we will look for the next available appointment for a short comfort visit. If you are not in pain, and your appointment is more than 2 weeks away, we will look for the next available appointment for a repair. If you are not in pain, and your appointment is less than 2 weeks away, we will give you the option of (A) reschedule your planned visit to the next available time or (B) keep your existing appointment. Typically, the next available appointment will be late morning or early evening.
What if I miss an appointment?
You will want to schedule a new appointment within one week of the missed appointment. Typically, the next available appointment will be late morning or early evening.
What if I miss many appointments?
Our biggest fear when a patient breaks an appointment is that treatment will not progress as planned. When a patient breaks several appointments, then we fear the result achieved in the estimated time may be worse than expected. Unsupervised orthodontic treatment is dangerous.
Is there a fee for a missed appointment?
There is no additional charge for a rescheduled, cancelled, missed or broken appointment. Additional fees may apply when treatment extends beyond the estimated months of treatment.