We are proud of our reputation for providing exceptional quality treatment and care and as a Centre of Excellence for dental sedation and complex surgical procedures we are committed adhering to industry best practice and scrutiny which is outlined in our terms and conditions.
This page gives details of our terms and conditions of service. If, however, you have any queries or need clarification, please contact a member of staff will be happy to help you.
Please be aware that 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 consultation.
Arnica Dental Care does not have a contract with a NHS Primary Care Trust and all treatments are provided on a private basis only.
Requesting our translation service
Arnica is now offering patients whose first language is not English the option of a translation service using The Big Word translation services. When booking an appointment please mention to the receptionist that you’d prefer a language translation service in a specific language. At the beginning of your appointment your dentist will use the surgery phone to connect with your The Big Word translator and place the call on loud-speaker so that you can clearly hear your translator and he /she can hear you and your clinical team so that he/she can accurately translate what your dentist and nurse are saying and what you’re saying to them.
Requesting a specific gender dentist
Should you would prefer to see a female or a male dentist then please let us know when booking your appointment.
Treatment Planning
Once your treatment plan has been agreed with the Dentist, we will provide printed 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 are valid for the next 3 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 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.
Fees
Arnica Dental Care does not operate a credit account system and we require fees to be settled at the appointment where treatment is provided. Where treatment incurs a laboratory fee, at least 50% of the total fee is due at the appointment where impressions are taken. Fees for certain treatments like Dental Implants are taken in staged payments at each visit.
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.
Novuna Personal Finance offers 0% finance for treatments between £1000 and £50,000 up to 40 months.
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 payments for treatment done needs to be paid for before cancellation.
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.
Arnica Dental Care reserves the right to charge time based deposits for booking future appointments. Deposits are deductible off the cost of treatment.
Arnica Dental Care reserves the right to make a charge for any debt passed to a debt collection agency.
Our fees are calculated by taking into account: the materials used, laboratory costs incurred (if applicable), and the clinical time spent. The fees are however, demonstrated as treatments prescribed on the treatment plan for your information.
Late Cancellation or Missed Appointments
Cancellations (less than 48 hours’ notice) and missed appointments seriously impact the practice, our staff and our patients especially those who need to be seen as soon as possible.
We therefore must charge a cancellation fee for appointments cancelled within 48 hours or a ‘fail to attend’ fee for missed appointments (see below).
Please bear in mind that it is now company policy that we do not book any further appointments until this fee has been paid.
We do understand that sometimes it might not be possible for you to attend and therefore we will always take mitigating circumstances into consideration.
Cancelled appointments and failed to attend fees
- Hygiene appointments 50% of the fee
- Exam appointments 50% of the fee
- 60-minute treatment up to £150 per hour
- 90-minute treatment up to £225 per hour
Late for Appointments
We understand that some patients travel long distances to get to the clinic, and in some cases being late for appointments can be unavoidable. If you are more than 10 minutes, please be aware that you may be asked to reschedule your appointment.
Guarantee
Our ceramic veneers, ceramic crowns and implant crowns are guaranteed for a period of 2 years following placement, provided that the following conditions are met:
1. The patient has fully paid for the treatment and does not owe the practice any money for the treatment received.
2. The Veneers, Crowns & Implant crowns have not been damaged as a result of an accident, trauma or excessive grinding.
3. The patient has followed all post treatment maintenance recommendations made by our dentists.
4. The patient has attended for a routine examination every 6 months.
Fillings are guaranteed for a year and during this period if they are lost or broken then we will replace them free of charge.
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.
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.
Use of Images and X-rays
Arnica Dental Care may use images and x-rays of your smile and teeth only, for marketing and educational purposes on the Arnica Dental Care website, and on promotional and educational literature. Your name will never be published, and identity will never be disclosed. However, if you DO NOT wish for us to use your images and x-rays in this way, please let us know.
Use of Patient Contact Details
At Arnica 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 clinic 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 practice 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.
0% Finance Terms and Conditions
Applications are subject to status and a full credit check and applicants must be:
18 or over
Resident in the UK for more than 12 months
Have a UK bank account
Be in permanent employment
Please note:
Arnica Dental Care and Bupa Dental Care are trading names of Oasis Dental Care Limited, Vantage Office Park, Bristol, BS16 1GW, whose company registered number is 00478127. Oasis Dental Care Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FCA registration no: 710559. Oasis Dental Care Limited is a credit broker and not a lender.
Finance is provided by Novuna Personal Finance, a trading style of Mitsubishi HC Capital UK PLC, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Financial Services Register no. 704348. Registered Office: Novuna House, Thorpe Road, Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey, TW18 3HP. Registered in Cardiff under company no. 1630491. The register can be accessed through www.fca.org.
Complaint’s Procedure
Arnica Dental Care is part of Bupa Dental Care
At Bupa Dental Care our patients are truly at the heart of everything we do. We try to ensure that all patients are pleased with their experience of our service and we take any concerns a patient may have very seriously.
a) If you have a concern regarding any aspect of your care, please let the Practice Manager know. We’ll do all that we can to resolve it to your satisfaction, both promptly and professionally. The Practice Manager is the person responsible for investigating and responding to all patient complaints.
b) If your concern relates to clinical dental treatment the Practice Manager will always seek the treating dentists’ comments in order to provide you a full detailed response.
c) If complaining on behalf of someone else, please note, we will require written consent in order to discuss their personal information.
d) We’ll acknowledge your complaint in writing within two days and will also include a copy of this complaint procedure. We will investigate your concerns and aim to provide a full response within 20 working days. If, for any reason, we are unable to complete our investigations within 20 working days, we will notify you, giving reasons for the delay and the likely period within which the investigation will be completed.
e) If you’re not satisfied with the outcome received, please let the Practice Manager know. In some circumstances, this may be escalated to our Patient Liaison Team to review and provide a final response.
f) If you remain unhappy once we have provided our final response you may be able to refer your complaint, free of charge, for an independent review. Please note that time limits may apply so you’ll need to get in touch as soon as possible.
If you’re an NHS patient you can refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman by completing an online form https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/ or phone 0345 015 4033, Or, get in touch with the NHS England local area team by email england.contactus@nhs.net or phone 0300 311 2233
If you’re a private patient, you can contact the Dental Complaints Service (DCS) by telephone 020 8253 0800, or visit their website – https://dcs.gdc-uk.org/
Both NHS and Private patients can contact the Care Quality Commission. Bupa will try to avoid the matter escalating this far, however, we understand that sometimes it is impossible to resolve matters, and this is then the only way to proceed.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) UK: https://www.cqc.org.uk/
No Tolerance/Abuse Policy
At Arnica Dental Care we operate a zero tolerance policy to abuse to our Dentists and staff, loud/disorderly/drunken behavior, persistent missing and late cancellation of appointments (after multiple warnings). In these situations, Arnica Dental Care reserves the right to refuse treatment and admission.
GDPR Data Protection Act
We store all patient personal details on a secure computer system in accordance with the Data Protection Act. All clinical notes, digital radio-graphs, digital photographs etc remain the property of Arnica Dental Care. Copies of notes, radiographs and photographs can be made available on request, and Arnica Dental Care reserves the right to charge an administration fee for these of £10.
To view our Privacy Notice please go to https://www.arnicadentalcare.co.uk/privacy-policy/