Health Services

Dental Policies 

Patient Safety 

Children are not allowed to be left unsupervised during patient dental appointments and are not permitted to be in the dental treatment room during dental procedures. They must always be accompanied by a guardian and remain in the clinic waiting area with a guardian during all dental treatment procedures. Failure to comply with this policy, will result in the patient appointment being rescheduled to another date/time.  

Failure to Show Policy 

Dental appointments are in great demand at NHCH. Failure to maintain scheduled dental appointments wastes valuable manpower, resources, professional time and denies other beneficiaries’ treatment. Additionally, failure to show for an appointment could negatively impact a patient’s treatment plan and overall oral health. An appointment for which a patient arrives greater than 10 minutes late, cancels less than 24 hours in advance of non-surgical procedures, cancels less than 48 hours in advance of surgical procedures or does not present themselves at all is considered a "failed appointment.”  You will be notified by email if you fail an appointment.  

Dental Hygiene Schedule Policy 

Active duty service membersassigned to NHCH are provided with one dental cleaning every 12 months. The only exceptions are when you meet the following criteria:  

  • You’ve been evaluated by a periodontist within the last 12 months;  

  • You’re being treated for periodontal disease and is on a periodontal maintenance schedule; 

  • You have a written recommendation for increased dental cleaning frequency. This is annotated in your treatment note by a periodontist.  

We do not have the capacity within the dental hygiene department at the command to support dental cleanings twice a year for each patient. To ensure equity and fairness amongst our ADSM, we limit dental cleanings to once every year unless a patient meets the criteria stated above. Dental hygiene appointments will not be referred to the network unless it is classified as an urgent dental need or if the access to care is greater than 180 days.   

Don't forget to keep your family's information up to date in DEERS!