Dental Policies
Patient Safety
Children (under age 12) must always be with a parent or guardian and stay in the clinic waiting area. They need to be supervised and aren’t allowed to be in the dental treatment room during their parent or guardian’s dental procedure. If you don’t follow this policy, we’ll reschedule your appointment.
Failure to Show Policy
There is a great demand for dental appointments at Naval Health Clinic Hawaii. Failure to come to dental appointments wastes valuable manpower, resources, and time. It prevents other patients from getting treatment. Additionally, if you don’t come to an appointment, it could negatively affect your treatment plan and overall oral health. A failed appointment is when you:
- Are more than 10 minutes late
- Cancel less than 24 hours in advance of non-surgical procedures
- Cancel less than 48 hours in advance of surgical procedures
- Don’t show at all
We’ll email you if you fail an appointment.
Dental Hygiene Schedule Policy
We provide active duty service members assigned to NHCH one dental cleaning every 12 months. There isn’t a requirement stating how often we perform these treatments.
Based on clinical findings, your provider will identify how often you need dental treatment. We prioritize procedures based on the urgency of your needs, available staff, and the availability of civilian network providers. We prioritize warfighter oral health care because it affects readiness and mission success.
Some patients may have a treatment plan requiring more frequent dental cleanings. To receive more frequent cleanings, you must:
- Have visited a periodontist in the last 12 months
- Have been treated for periodontal disease and be on a maintenance schedule
- Have a written recommendation for increased dental cleaning frequency. A periodontist must write this in the dental treatment note and treatment plan.
- Have been classified as ‘Dental Readiness Class 3’
We don't have staff to support dental cleanings more than once a year for each patient. To ensure equity and fairness, we can only give dental cleanings once every year unless you meet the criteria above.