| What to Expect and What You Will Need for Your Appointment
Unless you are having an urgent problem, our policy is to schedule a preoperative appointment so that we may assess the condition, take any needed additional radiographs (x-ray) or order additional studies, determine recommended treatment and treatment alternatives, discuss various anesthetic options, review any medical conditions so that we may treat you safely, obtain any indicated clearance from you physician, provide you with appropriate preoperative instructions, allow time to discuss our findings with the referring dentist if needed, schedule the procedure accordingly, and answer any questions you may have. While some feel this is an unnecessary appointment, it is one of the most vital links in providing quality care. You would not expect to make an appointment with a surgeon to have your appendix or tonsils removed without seeing him or her first. If for no other reason, a patient’s anxiety is greatly reduced when they are familiar with their surroundings, with their doctor and with what they can expect.
What you will need to bring with you to your appointment:
A referral from your dentist. This is a very important document and is the primary means of your dentist communicating his plan or concerns to the oral surgery team. Most of our referring dentists have copies of our referral form. If not, one may be downloaded from this site. We will certainly accept any referral form or even a note, memo, letter e-mail, or prescription form that indicates what surgical treatment the dentist is recommending and why. The communication is the important part, not the form.
Current, diagnostic quality radiographs (x-rays). If these are not given to you by your dentist, we will be able to take them at the time of your preoperative appointment. If your dentist uses digital radiography equipment, He or she may be able to email the radiographs to us.
A complete and accurate list of all medications and drugs (including herbal supplements) that you are taking. This should include over the counter medications.
An accurate medical history. You can print a copy of our medical history form from this website. If you cannot print one out, we will give you one to fill out at your first appointment. What is important is to have the information, including allergies, prior surgeries, and any medical conditions.
If you have one or more dental benefit plans, then you will need you plan ID cards so that we may confirm coverage and determine benefits. Although we do not participate with any medical plans, some procedures require submission to your medical plan before your dental plan will cover them. So also bring your medical insurance card with you if you have one.
We will need a driver’s license or some form of official identification and your SSN. If you object to that or have no SSN or means of identification, we will not turn you away, but we will require full payment at the time of service.
We will need a good, current phone number to contact you in the rare case that we would have to change your appointment, such as severe weather preventing the staff from getting to the office.
For certain types of appointments we may need other studies, such as study models, photographs or special radiographs. Our staff should be able to advise you of any other requirements when you make your appointment
Our normal patient treatment times are 9 am-4:00 pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Surgeries are normally scheduled in the mornings on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and all day on Friday. Preoperative appointments, followups and examinations are normally scheduled Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
While we are usually in the office on Wednesdays for training, administration, answering phones and making appointments, we do not normally appoint patients then.
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