Cancellations, Failed and Missed Appointments

It is inevitable that sometimes you may need to cancel or rearrange your dental appointments. We would ask patients to give as much notice as possible when cancelling an appointment, so we have the opportunity to offer it someone else although we do understand that during an emergency this is not always possible. Non-attendance and cancellations at short notice without a valid reason deprives other patients of our services. Appointments are often wasted as people do not attend. Over 30 appointments per month are being wasted. These appointments could have been used by other patients. The first time a patient fails to attend a booked appointment we will send a letter or e-mail reminding them that in future they must cancel appointments if they are unable to attend. After two of failed to attend letters or e-mails we will advise you that we will no longer be able to book further appointments without prior payment to secure the appointment. An appointment is considered to have been broken if any of the following occur: the patient fails to show up for the appointment, the patient appears more than 20 minutes late for a scheduled appointment, or the patient calls to cancel an appointment with too little advance notice to allow that appointment time to be rescheduled with another patient (24 hours will be considered to be the minimum time necessary to avoid a broken appointment). Patients who wish to cancel dental appointments must do so a minimum of 24 hours in advance of their scheduled appointment. If less notice is given without a valid excuse, the appointment will be considered to have been broken. Please note that if you are registered to be seen on the NHS from 2026 onwards, you will be offered one appointment. If you miss your appointment or fail to provide at least 24 hours notice for cancellation, you will not be offered another appointment under the NHS until we have new availabiltiy and therefore you will be required to seek private care with us.

Cancellations due to illness

If you are showing symptoms of a stomach bug or a respiratory illness, including COVID, please let us know so we can rearrange your appointment for when you are feeling better. This also helps to keep our staff and other patients safe. The normal cancellation period will not apply in these circumstances.

Cold Sore Policy

Cold sores are common for many people in the UK. Like all viruses, they are contagious and pose a risk to others. The herpes simplex virus is spread through contact. Cold sores usually emerge as a small ulcer like patch on or surrounding the lip line, they can come up in a matter of hours and usually take between seven days and four weeks to heal, depending on the severity. From the time they begin to emerge to the point at which they are fully healed, they pose a contagion risk. At Crosland Moor Dental Clinic we ask patients that if you have had a cold sore for less than 2 weeks, please reschedule any non-emergency dental treatment or hygienist appointments until after this contagious period has passed. This is not only because of the high risk of spreading the virus, but also because your lips may feel sore and could crack or bleed during treatment. If urgent dental treatment is required (you are in pain and need immediate attention), our dentists will request that your cold sore is protected with a cold sore plaster to minimise the risk of cross infection during emergency dental treatment. If you do get a cold sore and you have a dental or hygienist appointment arranged, please call the practice with as much notice as possible, to reschedule any non-emergency treatment. You will not be charged a late cancellation fee if you cancel due to a cold sore

Private Patient Deposit Policy

For all private dental treatment appointments, a £40 deposit is required at the time of booking to secure your appointment. This deposit will be deducted from the total cost of your treatment or refunded in full upon completion of treatment, provided that all scheduled appointments are attended as planned. Please note that if an appointment is missed or cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice, the £40 deposit will be non-refundable and may be retained to cover the cost of the reserved appointment time. We kindly ask all patients to provide adequate notice if they are unable to attend, so that we can offer the appointment to another patient in need of care.

Cookie policy –

Please add last updated date as 23rd June 2026 Not sure about the rest of this page I also don’t know how to run a cookie check without signing up to something