FAQ

Before we accept you as a new patient, we collect some basic information from you on your insurance (if any), contact details, and reason for seeking dental care at our practice. We  also determine if we need to transfer records (Authorization Release Form) from a prior dentist.

All new patients start with a comprehensive new patient exam where the Doctor reviews your paperwork, health information, and any prior records and conducts an examination. We do not perform any treatments at the  first visit. Some patient require pre-medications prior to dental treatments and others may have usable radiographs from a previous dentist which are examples of things that preclude problems or enhance efficiency. We also typically chart your teeth and advise on the best course of treatment or preventative care.

Please be aware that the earliest we can schedule you is approximately two weeks following your insurance verification. Further treatments (including cleanings) are only scheduled after the first visit.

We are in network with a limited number of insurance plans. We serve patients who are in-­network as well as fee-for-service and out of network patients. Please be aware that because there are hundreds of insurance plans, we ask patients to do their own due diligence to ensure we are a network provider. We can help our patients with this and do an insurance verification for new patients, but we cannot make guarantees.

We make decisions on which insurance carriers to accept based on business considerations and also the effectiveness of their provider services to our office. At the present time, we are taking new patients who have PPO plans with United Concordia, Carefirst, and Humana Medicare. We see out of network patients with many carriers with whom we do not have contracts including Aetna, Cigna, Delta Dental, Metlife, and others. Out of network patients pay the full office fee and we will provide a claim form for direct reimbursement but we cannot advise/help on what the insurance will cover.  For in-network insurance patients, we first do an insurance verification prior to your visit. This way, we avoid unpleasant surprises and also can set up your basic plans details and benefit specifications prior to your visit, which allows us to provide accurate treatment cost estimates to you.

From our perspective, we are providers of dental care, and dental insurance is simply a payment mechanism we support. We file claims as a courtesy and while we make a concerted effort to provide  accurate treatment co­pays/co­insurance estimates, we do not work for the insurance company and consequently cannot guarantee that treatments will always be covered or match estimated  insurance benefits. Moreover, insurance carriers neither guarantee benefits until claims are processed and nor do they provide sufficient detail to allow all possible limitations or exceptions to be programmed into our system. Please also note that we are never notified of any changes to your plan benefits so after initial setup, we will not know if your plan has changed until after claims processing.

Despite these challenges, we have made the effort to setup a large number of insurance plans and fee schedules in our system and we try and provide estimates that are equivalent to or close to  actuals. We have accounts at many insurance carrier portals to check benefits and claim  information but these are not integrated with our systems real­time and insurance companies do  not proactively inform us of plans changes, limitation details, or other specifications that result in  estimate versus actual discrepancies.

Per office policy, we expect payment of estimated co-­pay or co-insurance at the time of service. For major procedures, we need payment in full prior to cases going to the  lab ­ or prior to the first visit in a series. We no longer process secondary insurance  and we do not file to medical insurance.

We provide patients estimates based on Doctor-­prescribed procedures on their treatment plan. If you are an insurance patient, see above item on how we provide Insurance estimates.

While we are happy to provide some comparatives for prospective self-­pay patients on basic procedures like cleanings, we prefer not to do so for other procedures until we have definitive clinical diagnosis from our Doctor as to what the patient needs. Please note that we do not  accept diagnoses from other Dentists.

Unfortunately, we do not offer payment plans. While we have offered this to some patients in the past, we have regretfully discovered that this has subjected us to undue risks and overheads. If you need a major restoration, we suggest the best way is to save up for the procedure (we can provide  estimates) and schedule treatment when you are ready. At this time we are not a provider for CareCredit.

We try to keep room on our weekly schedule for emergency (established) patients. While we will try and fit you in as soon as possible, it might not be the same day and also depends on the patient’s  flexibility.

Please note we rarely, if ever, schedule same day service. A patient will be scheduled back for the appropriate procedure and, depending on the urgency, we try and move other non-­urgent appointments to make room.

A true emergency might entail after-­hours service at a surcharge. If you have a toothache, we urge you not to wait until Friday (usually our busiest day) and remind you that a weekend visit has a surcharge that is not covered by your dental  insurance.

State law does not permit prescription of controlled substances without an in-­person exam so even provision of a prescription would entail an exam with the emergency/off­-hours visit surcharge.

Our schedule is normally pretty full for at least two weeks out. We normally keep some room available to facilitate emergency exams for established patients.

We schedule patients only based on treatments diagnosed by Dr. Viertl.

We do not schedule based on self­-diagnosis. We can schedule you if Dr. Viertl has a current diagnosis (<6 months old) on your file and has determined that the extraction can be performed at our office. We do not schedule extractions on Fridays.

If not, we will need to first schedule you for an exam. Depending on the nature of the extraction and the patient, the case may need to be referred to an Oral Surgeon. Please note that we do not do sedation dentistry (nitrous oxide). If this is a need, you will need to be referred.

We do not schedule based on self­-diagnosis. We can schedule you if Dr. Viertl has a current  diagnosis (<6 months old) on your file. If not, we will need to first schedule you for an exam.

There are many variables to treatment that impact cost, insurance coverage, and the appropriate form of treatment needed. Often when a patient thinks they need a filling, they actually need a root canal, an extraction, or a more major restoration, like a crown. Even though your self-­diagnosis may sometimes be accurate, our experience has shown that scheduling  based on self­-diagnosis mostly causes confusion and erodes our efficiency and  time­-management.

While Dr. Viertl is not a pediatric dentist, we have several very young patients. We have dental patients as young as 2, but some children may need to go a pediatric dentist for specific procedures due to anxiety or other special considerations.

Note that we do not do sedation dentistry and that some young patients may need to be sedated in order to successfully complete specific procedures.

We do not schedule based on self­-diagnosis and our schedule is normally fairly booked at least two weeks out.

While we keep room on our weekly schedule for emergency or problem­-focused  exams, we rarely, if ever, schedule same day service. A patient will be scheduled back for the appropriate procedure and, depending on the urgency, we try and move other non­-urgent appointments to make room. If same day service is an important consideration for you, we may not be a good fit for your needs.

Dr Viertl makes custom bleaching trays for home use along with day or overnight bleaches of varying strengths. Since this is considered a cosmetic procedure, it is not covered by dental insurance. Dr Viertl will advise on expected results from bleaching but there is a general caveat that results are variable based on factors such as the patient’s age and tooth porosity. We do not currently do in­-office whitening procedures.

Our appointment cancellation policy is necessary to maintain the high professional standards of our practice. Missed or cancelled appointment spaces deprive other patients of treatment, disrupt our efficiency, and cause financial difficulty for the office.

If a cancellation is absolutely  necessary, we ask patients to extend us the courtesy of 48 hours business­-day (Tues-Fri) notice (e.g., by Thurs for Tues appointments). Unavoidable circumstances may warrant special  consideration, but cancellations under 48 hours or missed appointments will incur a minimum fee of $35 per half hour of scheduled appointment time.