New Patients

What you can expect as a new patient

The Dental and Implant Clinic Southbourne offers high quality general dentistry services including restorative treatments such as crowns and fillings, and endodontic treatments to prevent the need for tooth extraction.

Our dentist, Dr Jonathan Murphy, is also a specialist in prosthodontics (the restoration and replacement of teeth) and receives regular referrals from other surgeries to provide specialist treatment makeovers. On top of our general dentistry services, we offer hygienist and cosmetic treatments (including tooth whitening) to ensure your mouth looks and feels fabulous.

If you would like to register with the Dental and Implant Clinic Southbourne or find out more about us, please give us a call on 01243 377652.

What to expect during your first visit

Your first appointment will last around 30 minutes and include the following:

• Listening to any of your dental health concerns
• A review of your medical history
• A comprehensive examination of your teeth and gums
• Checking for signs of mouth cancer
• Taking x-rays, if needed
• Devising a treatment plan, if necessary, including any expected costs

To help keep your teeth in tip top condition, our dentists and hygienists are keen to promote preventative care, picking up problems before they worsen and teaching you the techniques to maintain a happy, healthy mouth.

We know the best way to ensure beautiful teeth is to start dental education and regular check-ups at an early age, so we are always happy to treat your children once you have registered. We are committed to protecting young teeth by helping to prevent decay and we do this by teaching your little ones lots of tooth brushing tips to ensure that good dental health becomes second nature. We also make our youngest patients feel as comfortable as possible when they come and see us.

We love getting to know our regular clients and if you frequently see the same dentist, the comforting familiarity that develops will help you feel more relaxed about coming in for check-ups and treatment, especially if you are a little nervous.

Flexible appointments

As well as our normal opening hours, we also offer early and late appointment slots for busy patients who may otherwise struggle to fit in a visit.

Reminders for appointments

We can offer appointment reminders three days in advance by text, email or phone, so please let us know your contact preference and if any of your personal details change.

Cancellations and missed appointments

Should you need to cancel an appointment, please give us 24 hours’ notice so we can offer your slot to another patient. If you don’t give sufficient notice or fail to attend an appointment, we reserve the right to charge a missed appointment fee.

Missed or cancelled hygienist appointments (without 24 hours’ notice) will incur a £35 charge to cover our costs.

Plans and Payment

We ask that you pay for treatment at the end of each appointment with cash, cheque or most major credit cards.

If you would prefer to spread the cost of your dental care, we offer monthly payment plans through Practice Plan.

With monthly fees starting from as little as £11.19, this comprehensive care plan lets you spread the cost of your routine dental appointments, offers a discount on treatments and provides worldwide trauma and emergency assistance.

Emergencies

We know how distressing dental emergencies can be, so we will always endeavour to see you as soon as possible and, in most cases, on the same day. If you have a dental emergency out of hours, please contact Jonathan Murphy on 07801 562264 who will be able to help.

Confidentiality

We take patient confidentiality extremely seriously and have a strict policy to ensure this. The Dental and Implant Clinic Southbourne makes sure that all personal information is treated in the strictest confidence. Patient records are stored securely and only members of staff have access to these. No information will be released to a third party without your express permission or where required by law.

Suggestions Box

We welcome your feedback and are always interested to hear your comments and suggestions so if you do have anything to say about our practice, please fill in a postcard and pop it in the Suggestions Box in our waiting room.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about the service you have received from the dentists or any of the staff working in this practice, please let us know.

Please contact Jonathan Murphy on 01243 377652 or email info@thedentalpracticesouthbourne.co.uk and he will be able to address your concerns and talk you through our complaints procedure.