Patient Information
 Our Dental Receptionists and Office Manager will help you schedule appointments and complete necessary paperwork. They will also answer any billing questions that you may have.
Patient Appointments
Patients are seen by appointment only. We make every effort to be on time for our patients, and we ask the same courtesy from your family. If you cannot keep an appointment, please notify us immediately, giving a minimum of 48 hours notice to avoid any missed appointment fees. We realize that unexpected illnesses and emergencies may occur, but we ask for your assistance in this regard.
Our office strives to schedule appointments at your convenience and when time is available.
Your First Visit
We are always excited to meet new patients. Your initial appointment will consist of a thorough dental examination in which we'll evaluation the health of your teeth and gums, and then explain your diagnosis and treatment options.
Please assist us by providing the following information at the time of your consultation:
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Your previous x-rays if they are less than one year old.
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The name of your physician and a list of all medications you are presently taking.
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Your dental insurance information. |
Insurance & Patient Co-payments
If you have insurance we will help you determine the coverage you have available. In order to best assist you, it is important that you submit your dental and/or medical insurance information to us with your New Patient Paperwork a minimum of two business days prior to your scheduled appointment. This allows us time to contact your insurance company and obtain a breakdown of the benefits you or your employer purchased from the company. In addition, you will want to bring a dental benefit book that your carrier should be able to provide. Our business team will be happy to help you understand your policy.
Should you be diagnosed with treatment services, we will be able to provide you with a detailed plan which will give you an estimate of how much your insurance company may pay for each procedure, as well as the portion you will be expected to pay at the time of service.
Professional care is provided to you, our patient family, and not to an insurance company. The insurance company is responsible only to the patient as a benefit from the individual or employer plan purchase, and the patient is responsible to the doctor. We will assist you every way we can in filing your dental or medical claim and handling insurance questions from our office on your behalf.
Financial Policy
In an effort to reduce the cost to you, the patient, while maintaining the highest level of professional care, we have established the financial policy as follows:
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Payment of any account balance is due in full within 20 days of statement date
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We gladly accept Visa, Discover, American Express or MasterCard payments |
Appointments & Consultations
We are happy to schedule a second-opinion consultation with our doctor to discuss treatment diagnosed for you. It is important to us that our patients are committed fully to a recommended course of treatment, and we make every effort to provide all available information on the types of treatment completed at Portola Smiles, as well as options to make appointments comfortable.
All patients that are referred to our office from another practice, or who have self-referred themselves for a second opinion are required to undergo a complete examination by our doctor before she provides her diagnosis opinion. Please ensure that all available x-rays and chart notes from your prior office have been transferred to us prior to the scheduled appointment for review. Please note that many offices require 7–14 business days to transfer records.
It is imperative that we have all available dental (and medical if related to trauma or medically diagnosed disorder) insurance information in a timely manner, as we will be providing you with a comprehensive treatment estimate after your consultation with the doctor.
If you have questions about the services we provide, please call (415) 468-3756 or use our Appointment Request Form.
Notice of Policy Practices
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information, to provide individuals with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to protected health information, and to notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured protected health information. We must follow the privacy practices that are described in this Notice while it is in effect. This Notice takes effect June 29, 2016 and will remain in effect until we replace it. Please review carefully.
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