The following document gives details of our current terms and conditions of service. If, following the reading of this document you have queries or need clarification please contact us and a member of our team will assist you.
TREATMENT ESTIMATES
Our Treatment Estimate, is our recommendation following your discussion with the Dentist. The Treatment Plan and its estimated costs are valid for 90 days from the date the treatment was prescribed. Should clinical findings change it may be necessary to amend the treatment plan and its associated costs. If these change, we will discuss the options with you and decide upon a new Treatment Plan. If you need any assistance understanding your treatment plan, please do not hesitate to contact us.
FREE CONSULTATIONS
Free Consultations are by appointment only and are provided at the discretion of the practice. A holding deposit of £25 will be taken to reserve the consultation. This deposit is fully refundable upon attending the consultation and can be discounted from any subsequent treatment undertaken with the practice. Any failure to attend or cancellation of a booked consultation within 48 hours of the appointment will result in the loss of the deposit. Should you wish to rebook following this a new £25 deposit payment will need to be supplied. This subsequent deposit will also be subject to the same terms.
CONSENT FORMS
Some treatments require the completion of a Consent Form. We will explain the treatment, aftercare, risks and benefits thoroughly. Your signing of the consent form confirms you are happy with all details therein and wish to proceed with the planned treatment.
FEES & PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS
Fees will be estimated at the time of planning your treatment and as discussed in the Treatment Estimates section can be subject to change. Cobbs Garden Dental Practice does not have a contract with an NHS Primary Care trust and thus all treatments provided are on a Private basis only.
Patients who are members of our Dental Plans will be entitled to a minimum of 10% discount on routine dental treatments. Exclusions from this include Dental Implants and their associated treatments, Orthodontics and its associated treatments, dentistry completed for purely aesthetic purposes, and Facial Aesthetics treatments. Further terms and conditions apply to Dental Plan Patients which can be provided upon request from a team member at any time.
Where treatment incurs an item of laboratory manufacture, such as a crown or denture, at least 50% of the total fee is due at the time of impression taking. Fees for Dental Implants, Periodontal Treatment and Invisalign® Treatment are taken in staged payments at each visit.
Treatments over £650 can potentially be funded using our recommended finance provider. Details of this provider, finance terms and the minimum deposit required can be discussed with a team member. The finance providers’ terms and conditions will be provided separately, please ensure you have received a copy and have read them fully before proceeding with treatment.
In cases where treatment is paid for on finance through a Finance company, please be aware that the finance agreement must be accepted and signed prior to the start of that treatment. Please note that finance is not available for Emergency Dental Treatment. If you have financed any of the costs of your treatment through the finance company, and wish to cancel your treatment after signing the agreement forms, please be aware that a cancellation fee of up to 20% of the total finance amount will be charged.
Cobbs Garden Dental Practice does not accept payment by Cheque or American Express.
Any non-payment of treatment outside of agreed terms may result in the pursuing of costs through external means. Cobbs Garden Dental Practice reserves the right to apply additional charges should the debt need to be passed to a debt collection agency.All treatment fees are based on; materials used, laboratory costs (if applicable) and the clinical time set aside for the treatment. The fees however are demonstrated on our Treatment Plans as ‘treatments prescribed’; for ease of explanation and understanding.
GUARANTEE
All of our veneers, porcelain bonded crowns and bridgework are guaranteed for a period of one year. Our Emax and Zirconia crowns are guaranteed for three years, providing the conditions as set out below are met. Fillings, excluding temporary fillings, are guaranteed for one year again subject to the following conditions:
• You attend a minimum of one dental health assessment and hygiene appointment every six months (two in a 12-month period) after the treatment has been completed.
• You follow any maintenance programme that has been recommended.
• The restorations have not been damaged by trauma, bone disease, gum disease, dental decay or by any additional dental treatment not carried out by the original dentist.
• If there is an outstanding balance on the clients account, the work is not guaranteed until full payment is made.
Failure to complete any of the above detailed actions invalidates the guarantee. Once the guarantee has been invalidated Cobbs Garden Dental Practice has no responsibility to provide replacement or repair free of charge and reserves the right to make reasonable additional charges based on clinical time, cost of materials and laboratory fees incurred.
PERSONAL DETAILS
It is extremely important that you give a full and accurate medical history. Failure to do so may result in an inability to complete planned treatment, or a risk to yourself or others involved in your care. Failing to disclose information may invalidate your treatment plan and guarantee and may result in a need to re-assess your case at additional cost. It is also imperative that any changes to contact details for both yourself and emergency contacts are kept up to date.
DATA PROTECTION ACT
All patient personal details are stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act. All clinical notes, digital photographs, and radiographs are the property of Cobbs Garden Dental Practice. Copies of these items can be made available upon request.
LATE CANCELLATION OR MISSED APPOINTMENTS
If you need to cancel or change an appointment, please give us as much notice as possible. We require a minimum of 48 hours, otherwise you will incur a cancellation fee. Appointments; of 30 minutes or less, cancelled without 48 hours' notice will, at the practices discretion, incur a cancellation fee of £25. For each 30 minutes of booked, unused time thereafter the fee will increase by £25, up a maximum of £100. Please be aware that if two consecutive appointments are cancelled without 48 hours' notice, or failed to attend (without good reason), no further appointments shall be offered at the practice without the full appointment fee in advance which will then be held in place of the deposit. Dental Plan members are subject to the same Late Cancellation and Missed appointment policy. However where you have booked a dental examination or hygiene session from your plan entitlement and you should fail to attend or cancel within 48 hours of the appointment time the appointment will be deducted from your yearly allocation as the time will have been reserved for you, irrelevant of whether you attend. You may also be given the choice to pay the relevant fee as an alternative to utilising an appointment from your yearly allocation. This will be offered at the discretion of practice management.
CANCELLING YOUR TREATMENT
Should you wish to cancel your treatment there may be an administration fee of £100. You may be required to cover all costs incurred (including finance fees) by the practice for the provision of the treatment up to the date of cancellation acknowledgement.For implant, cosmetic and orthodontic courses of treatment the cancellation fee shall not be less than 25% of the total price of the course of treatment but will ultimately be determined by the practice upon an individual case basis. Cobbs Garden Dental Practice, on occasion my offer a reduction on larger treatment plans. Should you wish to cancel part of your treatment, Cobbs Garden Dental Practice reserve the right to charge the full listed price for the remaining treatment.
COMPLAINTS POLICY
At Cobbs Garden Dental Practice we always take complaints about any aspect of our services very seriously. Complaints can be made in writing to the Practice Manager via letter, email, or through our online website contact form, by the patient or by an authorised person on the patient's behalf. Every complaint will receive an acknowledgement within 48 hours. Cobbs Garden Dental Practice will endeavour to resolve a complaint within 28 days. For our full complaints procedure and policy, please ask a member of our reception team or see our website.
If a complaint is about any aspect of clinical care or associated charges it will normally be acknowledged by the Management team and then referred to the treating Dentist. Please note that in these cases, Cobbs Garden Dental Practice accepts no liability on behalf of the treating Dentist and acts as a liaison between the patient and the treating Dentist, only. If you are unsatisfied with our internal handling of your complaint, you are free to forward your complaint to the Dental Complaints Service (www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk). If still unsatisfied, you may wish to forward your complaint to the General Dental Council.
REFUNDS
Refunds on treatment will only be issued upon agreement by the Practice Owners and Management Team. Any request for refunds must be made in writing to the Practice Manager. Refunds will be completed 28 days from receipt of a signed refund agreement.
NO HARASSMENT/ABUSE POLICY
At Cobbs Garden Dental Practice we operate a zero-tolerance policy to abuse to our Dentists and staff, loud/disorderly/drunken behaviour, persistent missing and late cancellation of appointments. In these situations, Cobbs Garden Dental Practice reserves the right to refuse treatment and admission.
DEPOSITS
Due to an unfortunate rise in patients failing to attend appointments or cancelling at short notice we have now implemented a new deposits system for booking further treatment appointments. For all appointments there will now be a deposit ranging from £25 (dependent upon the length/type of the appointment). This will need to be paid upon booking the appointment and will be used to cover any cancellation and fail to attend fees should you be unable to attend the appointment.
