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We would like you to understand the goals we seek to achieve by our appointment system. Orthodontic force systems must be adjusted and monitored at consistent intervals for treatment to proceed as planned. Many of the office visits will inevitably conflict with work or school. In order to balance the need for regular appointments with the need to minimize missed school and work hours, we have designed our office schedule to accomplish the following:

1. We want to see each patient at a time of his or her special appointment. Your time is valuable; it should not be wasted sitting in our reception area.
2. We want to have enough time at each appointment to do the necessary adjustment, plan the next visit, discuss treatment progress, and answer questions.
   
   Orthodontic treatment proceeds in stages. At some times, what is needed is a nudge here and there, requiring a relatively short appointment. At other times, major changes are required in the appliance, requiring a long appointment. With this in mind:
3. We will schedule longer appointments during school and work hours and shorter appointments at more convenient times. In this way we do not reserve an entire afternoon for a few patients, but rather see as many patients as possible with short appointments. One consequence of a schedule arranged in this fashion is that the office is quieter during early and midday hours and busier in the late afternoon.

Because the schedule is carefully crafted, arriving late or missing your appointment can pose a problem. We ask you to remember that the broken appointment hurts three people... you, another patient, and me. In fairness to the other scheduled patients, we will not jam a late arrival into the schedule. We will probably have to reschedule the appointment unless there is an opening in the schedule that we had not expected.

All failed or late appointments should be rescheduled as soon as possible. Since the after-school and work hour appointments are scheduled several weeks in advance, it will be necessary to reschedule the missed appointment during the middle of the school day.

If you develop an orthodontic problem and require an extra appointment, we will bring you in as soon as possible to correct the problem and we will need to appoint you as the schedule allows.

EMERGENCIES: If you feel something has happened that is very serious and cannot wait, we will see you immediately regardless of our schedule for that day. If we are out of the office, the answering service will contact us so we can get back in touch with you as soon as possible.

If you have any questions regarding the appointment policies, please call or ask for further clarification from Dr. Youngquist or anyone on staff.

Thank you for choosing us. We will always try our best to put your needs first.

~ Dr. Youngquist & Staff

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