Patient Information

Chopra & Associates Dental Surgeries has agreed with NHS England, Kent & Medway Area Team to provide NHS dental services at all of our practices.

PRACTICE LOCATIONS
Ashford
225 Faversham Road Kennington
Ashford Kent TN24 9AF
Tel (01233) 637018

Canterbury
1 Military Road
Canterbury Kent CT1 1LN
Tel (01227) 453416

Sittingbourne
‘Sutton House’ 5 London Road
Sittingbourne Kent ME10 1NQ
Tel (01795) 477224

Swanscombe
‘Hews House’ 23 High Street
Swanscombe Kent DA10 0AG
Tel (01322) 386688

ALL PRACTICES ARE
Closed for Lunch 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm
Closed Bank and Public Holidays & Christmas through to the New Year

Principal
Mr P K Chopra
BDS MFGDP MJDF MFDS BA (Hons)
MFDS RCS (Ed) MFDS RCPS MFD RCSI FHEA

Senior Dental Practice Manager
Miss Monica Morrison
BA (Hons) FBADN RDN RAD Cert OHI Dip DPM LCGLI

USEFUL CONTACT NUMBERS
Dentaline 01634 890300
(out of hours emergency dental services)
Dental Emergencies NHS 111

NHS Customer Care 0300 311 2233

STAFF TRAINING & COMMITMENT
All staff at Chopra & Associates are committed to ongoing Postgraduate Training and all qualified staff are registered and comply with the General Dental Council.

All Trainee Staff are provided with ongoing and appropriate training to enable them to gain the appropriate qualifications to register with the General Dental Council – leading to Postgraduate training.

For full details on ALL staff members please visit out Meet the Team section on our website

Chopra & Associates Dental Surgeries have achieved membership and recognition from the BDA Good Practice Scheme and Investors in People

COMPLAINTS
Our practices’ operate an internal complaints procedure, if you feel that you need to make a complaint, please kindly contact our reception staff or email chopra.dental@nhs.net.

Any complaints made to our practices are dealt with promptly and with discretion.

Our full complaints policy is available from reception.

VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION POLICY
Our practices operate a zero tolerance policy towards violent, aggressive or abusive behaviour.

DATA PROTECTION
Our practices are registered with the Data Protection Agency.

Only Dental Surgeons and Staff currently employed by Chopra & Associates have access to your dental records. We request that all of our staff treat all company information with the strictest professional and confidential manner at all times.

Patients have the right to access their records and information under ‘Freedom of Information Act’. Please put any request for this in writing or email
chopra.dental@nhs.net.

SERVICES AVAILABLE
We have agreed with the NHS England to provide NHS services for all patients.

NHS dental treatment includes all treatment necessary to secure and maintain your oral health. We also provide a full range of private treatment options for patients who choose to have treatment that is not available on the NHS – for example cosmetic treatment such as tooth whitening.

The poster in our waiting room has information about the current cost of NHS treatment.

Your dentist will also advise you of the cost of any private treatment.

We can also refer you to another dentist if you require specialist treatment involving sedation, oral surgery or orthodontics/implants.

EMERGENCIES
If you require emergency treatment during normal surgery hours, we will try to see you on the same day, but please contact us as early on the day as possible. You may need to wait until we can fit you in between patients who already have appointments. It may not be possible to see your regular dentist. All other times please telephone the surgery for further advice. Or contact Dentaline on 01634 890300 or NHS on 111.

DISABILITY ACCESS AND FACILITIES
At all of our practices we have facilities to see and treat disabled patients, entrance to each practice is different, please contact your preferred surgery for further details on facilities.

PRIVATE CARE
NHS patients can opt to have part of their treatment privately. Private Treatment gives you more time with your dentist as well as personal service, greater choice of materials and higher quality laboratory work for a better aesthetic result. There is also a greater range of treatment options available as cosmetic treatment is excluded from the NHS. Because the charges are changing, some private treatment may even be cheaper.

RECALLS AND REMINDERS
At the end of your course of treatment, your dentist will discuss with you when you will need to see a dentist again. NHS dentists will now follow guidelines issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on how often patients need to see their dentist, according to their oral health needs. It is no longer the norm for NHS patients to have two NHS check-ups each year, if you do not need them.

We have a text message reminder service for recalls and reminders, please ensure that reception staff have your up to date mobile telephone number.

If you do not wish to have this service, please inform reception.

APPOINTMENTS
If you ask us for an appointment, we will try to offer you one as soon as possible at a convenience time within the hours we have set aside for NHS patients.

You can choose which dentist you would like to see at the practice, but please note that this will depend on the appointments available.

We always try to see patients at the appointment times. We are very busy dental practices and if you are kept waiting there is normally a good reason. Please be patient.

It is our practice policy to book one appointment at a time, this is to prevent unnecessary appointments being booked and subsequently cancelled or failed.

Please note that all new patients and re-accepted patients (not been seen within the last 12 months) may not always see the dentist of their choice, if you require to see a specific dental surgeon, please put this in writing to the Senior Dental Practice Manager and we will endeavour to comply with your request, this may not always be possible, as all of our dentists are extremely busy.

All patients are required to complete a detailed medical history form, prior to any treatment commencing on their first visit and at every check-up or 6 monthly visit thereafter.

FAILED APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
If you are unable to keep your appointment please let us know as soon as possible so that we can use the appointment for other patients on our waiting list. If you miss more than 2 appointments giving less than 24 hours’ notice, we may not be able to complete your treatment or offer you NHS care in the future.

CHARGES AND PAYMENTS
To all FEE paying patients:-

• All payments must be made on the day that the treatment has been started.
• No other appointments will be made until payments are up to date.
• Dentures, Crowns, Bridges and Veneers must be paid for at the first preparation visit.

For payments WE ACCEPT CASH, DEBIT AND CREDIT CARDS.

To NON FEE paying patients:

• If you are exempt from dental charges, you must provide the receptionist with an up to date exemption certificate, on your first visit, and each subsequent visit. Otherwise payment will be required, and you will have to claim back through the Social Security.
• If you think that you may get exemption, please ask for a HC1 form, payment will be required for treatment until you have your reply. You can then claim the monies back through the Social Security (you will be required to keep all receipts for this).
• IF YOU ARE UNSURE, PLEASE CHECK WITH THE RECEPTIONIST BEFORE ANY TREATMENT COMMENCES. OTHERWISE YOU WILL BE LIABLE FOR PAYMENT FOR ALL TREATMENT CARRIED OUT