Terms of Service

We are always pleased to assist our patients whenever we can. Here you will find details of our terms and conditions of service. If, however, you have any queries or need clarification, please contact us and a member of staff will be happy to help you.

Please be aware that any information provided through any part of our website (examples: forum, blog, news, main site, live chat, phone, email) does not constitute professional advice. No professional advice can be given without a clinical consultation with a dentist. For professional dental advice we strongly recommend that you see a dentist for full consultation.

Ascent Dental Care does not have a contract with an NHS Primary Care Trust and all treatments are provided on a private basis only.

Treatment plans and Estimates

Once your treatment plan has been agreed with the Dentist, we will provide written details of your plan. If this plan changes due to radiographic or clinical findings, we will inform you and discuss this with you. Treatment plans and fees are valid for up to six months from the date the treatment was prescribed. If there are any points on your treatment plan that you wish to query, please do not hesitate to ask us, before the appointments for actual treatments are made.

Consent forms

Certain treatments require the completion of a written consent form. This is in order to explain the treatment, aftercare and any risk to you, thoroughly, before any of these treatments are carried out.

Consent for any treatment can be withdrawn at any point by the patient or dental professional.

Fees

Consultations

Whilst some of our consultations are free of charge you may be asked to pay a holding fee when making the appointment. This fee is non refundable if we do not receive at least 24 hours’ notice of non-attendance. Otherwise, the fee is fully refundable if you decide not to continue with treatment or you can leave it on your account to be deducted from future treatment.

If a consultation is chargeable, you will be asked to pay a 50% deposit when booking.

Treatment

You will be asked to make a deposit payment of at least 50% of the next appointment fee upon booking any treatment appointment. Deposits are deductible off the cost of treatment.

The full balance of the treatment plan must be paid prior to the final appointment. We do not operate an account in arrears facility, and we require fees to be settled at the appointment where the treatment is provided.

We reserve the right to ask for payment in full before beginning any treatment plan.

Laboratory fees

Where treatment incurs a laboratory fee, a minimum of 50% of the total fee is due at the appointment where impressions are taken. Fees for certain treatments like Dental Implants and Invisalign® payments are taken in staged payments at each visit. You will always be informed of your payment schedule prior to starting treatment.

Sedation

Fees for treatment where intravenous sedation is included, must be settled prior to the appointment to avoid financial transactions, or signatures being required, whilst a client is still under the influence of the sedative.

Finance

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 only available on treatments over £250.

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 15% of the total finance amount will be charged. In some circumstances, we reserve the right to request payment in advance for certain treatments.

Payment methods accepted are:

• Cash
• Debit Card
• Credit Card including American Express
• BACS

Ascent Dental Care does not accept any payments by cheque (unless agreed in advance with the practice manager). Please note that unpaid accounts are routinely referred to a Debt Collection Agency or the Small Claims Court, and we reserve the right to recover all costs incurred in doing so. If we are required to pass this matter onto our external agent for collection you will then become liable for a further administration charge between 12% – 50%.

Late cancellation or missed appointments

We require a minimum of 24 business hours’ notice for cancellation of any arranged appointment. When we schedule an appointment for a patient, we are booking the surgery time out for that patient’s treatment. Failure to give the appropriate notice of cancellation will result in a failed appointment fee being charged. This fee is proportionate to the length of the appointment failed and is to cover the cost of the surgery time wasted.

Failed Appointment fees must be settled before any other appointment is offered.

Arriving for appointments

We understand that some patients travel long distances to get to the practice, and in some cases being late for appointments can be unavoidable. If you are more than 10 minutes late, please be aware that you may be asked to reschedule your appointment.

Personal Details

It is very important that you give a full medical history and details of any medication you take. Should these change in any way, it is very important for you to tell your Dentist. It is the patient’s responsibility to inform the clinic of any changes in either personal details and/or their medical history.

You will be sent a link to our secure patient portal prior to your appointment. You can update your medical history easily here.

Guarantee

At Ascent Dental Care we offer a 12-month guarantee for treatment we have provided if the following conditions are met:

• The patient has fully paid for the treatment and does not owe the practice any money for the treatment received
• The restorations have not been damaged as a result of an accident, trauma or excessive grinding
• The patient has followed all post treatment maintenance recommendations made by our dentists
• The patient has attended a routine examination within the last 12 months
• Some treatments may have a guarantee of less than 1 year, and in this case, you will be informed by your Dentist either verbally or in writing, or both

Use of patient contact details

At Ascent Dental Care the health of our patients is our highest priority, and we also like to keep our patients informed of various important changes at the practice and of our latest special offers. We like to remind our patients of their appointments, when they are due for appointments, and other various important reminders. On this note, you may be periodically contacted by the clinic via phone, text, email or by letter in the post. If you DO NOT wish to be contacted by the clinic by any or all of these means, please let us know.

Complaint policy

At Ascent Dental Care we always take complaints about any aspects of our services very seriously, in order to ensure that every patient has only the very best experience at all times.

Complaints can be made in writing, via email or verbally, by the patient or by an authorised person on the patient’s behalf. Complaints should be made to the ‘Complaints Manager’, and should be clear, so that they can be dealt with efficiently.

Every complaint will receive a written/email acknowledgment within 3 working days, and the Management will strive to resolve the complaint within a quick, reasonable period (usually 10 working days). For our full complaints procedure and policy, please ask a member of our reception team. 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, Ascent Dental Care accepts no liability on behalf of the treating Dentist and acts as a liaison between the patient and the treating Dentist, only.

No tolerance/Abuse policy

We operate a zero-tolerance policy to abuse to our team. This includes loud, disorderly, drunken, abusive behaviour and persistent missing and late cancellation of appointments (after multiple warnings). In these situations, Ascent Dental Care reserves the right to refuse treatment and admission.

Promotions

Ascent Dental Care occasionally runs special offers and promotions on treatments. These are subject to availability of appointments and suitability of the treatment for the patient.

Data Protection

We store all patient personal details on a secure computer system in accordance with the Data Protection Act & GDPR. All clinical notes, digital radiographs, digital photographs etc. remain the property of Ascent Dental Care. Copies of notes, radiographs and photographs can be made available on request, and we reserve the right to charge an administration fee for these.