Preparing for your Consultation

Consulting with an oral surgeon may come with a little bit of hesitancy, but don’t worry, more people see an oral surgeon than you might think — we just don’t make a habit of talking to our friends, family, and co-workers about our oral health. Let’s take a look at how we can prepare you for what to expect during your consultation.

the 10 most commonly asked questions

Do I need a referral?

Generally, no! The only type of service that requires a referral to our office is Orthognathic surgery. All other reasons you might schedule a consultation do not require a referral unless your insurance provider indicates that they require you have a referral. In those very rare cases, our team would make you aware of that at the time of scheduling.

If you do have a referral, though, our team will ensure we contact your referring office ahead of your first appointment to gather your referral information and any imaging that office may have on file for you. We do ask that you bring in your referral if you received a physical paper referral. Having treatment expectations from your referring provider is important to our surgeons to ensure that your treatment plan reflects any larger oral healthcare plans your referring provider and/or general dentist may have for you following your surgical care.

can I get an estimate over the phone before i decide to schedule a consultation?

Generally, no. Our Scheduling Specialists cannot provide treatment estimates over the phone for a couple of really important reasons we’ve listed below for your consideration. In some cases, our team may be able to provide a very broad ‘ballpark’ figure but those will all be given as fully out-of-pocket costs without your specific insurance factored in. The only way to receive a treatment plan estimate for your case, with your insurance factored in, is to complete a consultation with a surgeon.

Reasons why our Scheduling Specialists cannot Provide Treatment Estimates over the Phone:

Scheduling Specialists cannot diagnose and/or confirm a diagnosis
Scheduling Specialists cannot assess medical history and/or need of a patient
Scheduling Specialists cannot discuss treatment options outside of that which is listed on a referral, and can only be discussed within the circumstances of our patient care guidelines at Charleston Oral and Facial Surgery
Scheduling Specialists cannot complete an insurance verification benefit review until an appointment is scheduled

Why do I need a consultation?

Consultations are required to diagnose your concern(s) which guide your surgeon in the treatment planning process. Without a consultation to review (or take) recent x-ray imaging, your comprehensive medical history, your dentist or dental specialists recommended treatment, and your expected outcomes, our surgeon wouldn’t be able to provide the most accurate and appropriate surgical care. For this reason - to provide the most accurate and appropriate surgical care - our surgeons require all patients to complete a consultation prior to any surgical treatment, without exception.

you wouldn't trust an orthopedic surgeon to replace your hip without proper imaging, consultation, and surgical planning.

oral surgery is still surgery. it requires planning.

Why am I only being offered afternoon appointments when I want a morning consultation?

Unless it’s a Friday, or a special scheduling circumstance, all of our consultations are scheduled in the afternoon to allow for our surgeons to complete surgeries in the morning for those patients who require IV Sedation. Our Scheduling Specialists do make every attempt to accommodate your scheduling preferences, of course, but you will find that almost all available consultations are in the afternoon, regardless of location or provider.

Will my insurance cover the consultation? How will I know if I’m going to owe anything out-of-pocket?

After you schedule your consultation appointment, our in-house Insurance Verification team will get to work contacting the insurance companies you provided at the time of scheduling to verify your benefits. Our team requests the following information from your insurer to ensure we have current and correct information regarding your policy so that we are able to provide you with advance notice of any out-of-pocket charges you may incur during any stage of your care with our office.

Eligibility
Benefit Period + Policy Maximums
Policy Deductible
Coverage Percentages for Preventative Services like Consultations and Imaging
Coverage Percentages for the Most Common Oral Surgery Surgical Codes like Extractions and Dental Implants

If our Insurance Verification team is unable to verify your benefits ahead of your appointment, our team will contact you to verify the information we have on file for you.

If our Insurance Verification team finds that you have met your eligibility allowances for your benefit maximum, exam or imaging frequency, or has found that you do not have coverage for an anticipated code, our administrative team will contact you to advise of this information and provide you with out-of-pocket estimates. If you are expected to owe anything out-of-pocket at your visit, you are always offered the opportunity to reschedule your appointment without penalty (see Cancellation Policy) if you are unable to pay the anticipated amount owed on the day of your appointment.

When should I arrive for my consultation?

Our team asks that all patients arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of their appointment to complete the check-in process. Even if you completed any online forms in advance, there may be additional forms required of you at check-in based on your responses to the online medical history or other forms.

If you do not complete any online forms prior to check-in, we ask that you arrive 30 minutes prior to the start of your appointment.

Your appointment reminders from our office will indicate the appointment time NOT your “Arrival Time”. Please arrive no less than 15 minutes earlier than the start time indicated on your emails/texts/voicemails from our office. Consider that the time it takes to check you in for your appointment is not considered as part of your appointment. Your appointment is the time we expect you will be with our team and your provider. Any information required to prepare for your time with our team and your provider is additional to the appointment duration you are scheduled for. In an effort to ensure that we are mindful of your time, we do our best to provide all necessary forms in advance of your appointment through your personalized Patient Portal. Your appointment can begin after all required documentation is on file.

How long will my consultation appointment last?

We want to be good stewards of your time. Our consultation appointments are scheduled for 30 minutes from start to finish after your completed paperwork has been added to your chart at check-in. The exception to this 30 minute standard are appointments for patients requiring Oral Medicine, Orthognathic, or TMD Surgical Intervention consultations - those appointments typically last about 45 minutes due to the more complex nature of those cases.

What could cause delays in my appointment?

There may be reasons why you’re not with your surgeon right at the start of your appointment time, and we want to be transparent about that. We understand that waiting for a provider can be frustrating when you have a work or personal schedule to get back to which is why we do our best to schedule our patients as accurately as possible out of respect for their time. Some reasons that your consultation may begin later than your scheduled appointment time are:

Proper paperwork and/or required documents were not completed prior to the start of the appointment
Insurance information was not provided at the time of scheduling
Emergency appointments were added to the schedule due to the urgent nature of a patient’s condition
Appointments already scheduled prior may have run longer than expected due to unforeseen delays
Patients with earlier appointment times may have arrived late, delaying our team from preparing for your arrival

If our schedule is running behind, our team will notify you of the delay whenever possible to ensure that you are aware of any estimated wait time. If the wait time is inconvenient for your schedule, we understand! In those cases, we will offer to reschedule without penalty. These situations resulting in long wait times for our patients are highly unlikely but may happen due to the nature of our specialty.

When does my surgery get scheduled?

After you receive your treatment plan estimate as part of your consultation, you will be invited to schedule your surgery prior to leaving your consultation appointment; however, if you need some time to consider how you’d like to proceed, that’s okay! Our team encourages making a fully informed medical and financial decision so our treatment plan estimates are valid for 30 days from the date they are written. If you’d like to call our team back to schedule at a later date, you’re welcome to do so even if your treatment plan estimate is more than 30 days old.

If your treatment plan estimate is between 31 and 365 days old, we will schedule your surgery based on your expired treatment plan. Our Insurance Verification team will reverify your benefits and eligibility ahead of your surgery appointment. If any changes greater than $50 from the original treatment plan estimate are determined based on the updated verification check, our team will notify you as soon as possible about the out-of-pocket change.

If your treatment plan estimate is greater than 12 months old, you may require another consultation to confirm that your diagnosis(es) and treatment plan remain the same as your initial consultation.

Typically our schedule allows for surgery appointments within 5-7 business days of your consultation (if not sooner). All surgeries are scheduled in the morning.

reference guide

1. Do I need a referral?

2. Why do I need A consultation?

3. Can I get an estimate over the phone before I decide to schedule a consultation?

4. Why am I only being offered afternoon appointments when I want a morning consultation?

5. Will my insurance cover the consultation? How will I know If I'm going to owe anything out-of-pocket?

6. What do I need to bring to my consultation?

7. When should I arrive for my consultation?

8. How long will my consultation appointment last?

9. What could cause delays in my appointment?

10. When does my surgery get scheduled?

1

Understand Your Case

Our Administrative team supports our surgeons in ensuring that you understand your treatment options prior to considering surgery. This begins with capturing the best x-ray imaging to diagnose and plan your surgical care. Your surgeon and patient care coordinator are experts, so be sure to use your consultation as an opportunity to ask any questions you may have after the surgeon completes his exam. Successful surgeries start with understanding your case.

2

Plan A Financially Comfortable Treatment Plan

From the diagnosis, your patient care coordinator will develop a treatment plan estimate to outline the cost of all treatment options you discussed with your surgeon. Prior to your visit, our team verified any dental insurance policy you provided when you scheduled. Those benefits will be carefully applied to your treatment plan to give you an estimated out-of-pocket obligation for those services not covered in part or in full by your insurance provider.

If the out-of-pocket cost of your treatment plan is prohibitive, your patient care coordinator is able to discuss a number of financing options that may work for you. There may also be an opportunity to adjust the timeline of your treatment to “phase” care in more financially feasible increments.

Since payment is due at time of service, our team does everything possible to ensure all foreseeable costs are detailed up front. We are proud that we can be among the few medical providers with whom you don’t have to blindly commit to recommended treatment only to be surprised with bills 2-4 weeks later. Our team takes the up front approach to discussing a financially comfortable treatment plan.

3

Smile Again

If successful surgeries start with understanding your case, then they certainly conclude with understanding your post-operative care. Our Clinical team works with your surgeon to provide the most detailed pre- and post-operative care instructions so that healing from surgery isn’t holding you back from returning to daily life. Dental treatment, especially oral surgery, can unexpectedly put a stop to your routines and comfort. Completing surgery with Charleston Oral and Facial Surgery means that you’ll be back to smiling again in no time.