New Patients

Relaxing Choices

At Daybreak Dental we realize there are many folks who wish to have dental care but are kept away from that goal by their dental fears and anxiety. Our Battle Ground endodontists and oral surgeons have some very helpful ways to support just such a person—thank goodness!

Things you should know:

1. We never do any dental care without your explicit permission or without informing you of the fees for that procedure, any insurance coverage that would apply to that procedure and what is your co-payment that will be expected as you check out. Our oral surgeons, dentists, and endodontists in Battle Ground give all our patients a printed form that specifies all this info either after your first appointment, or if your case is a bit more involved and may take more time to develop a plan for after your consultation appointment at your next visit. No financial surprises! Occasionally treatment needs to change if the dental need is different than what we expected, but you will be informed of that as soon as we know.
2. Dr. Fu is amazing at getting folks gently and comfortably numb for their dental procedures. Once you experience that, very commonly, dental anxiety is greatly decreased in our patients, as you now know that getting anesthetized is far easier with Dr. Fu’s slow, gentle approach. What a relief!
3. Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas—PS, you really don’t laugh at the correct level of gas). For a small fee (not usually covered by insurance, by the way) our Battle Ground sedation dentists can administer this odorless gas with a comfortable nose mask that allows our patients to relax for their dental care. The beauty of Nitrous Oxide is that it acts quickly and is gone quickly once the procedure is finished, so our patients do not need a driver or an escort for their safety afterwards.  Patients are easily able to respond and talk to us while relaxed.
4. Minimal conscious sedation – This option involves taking an oral medication to relax you in our dental office while you are under our supervision. Supervision is required to be certain you are safely relaxed and not accidentally obstructing your airway by falling asleep in a goofy position or having any unexpected reaction to the medication. We will monitor your airway effectiveness by using a simple finger-hugging pulse oximeter that determines the level of oxygen in your blood and taking your blood pressure before, during and after treatment. This relaxing option requires you having your own personal driver to and from the dental office (no taxis) and your agreement to have that person with you for at the minimum of 6 hours after the procedure is completed and the effects of the medication are nearly gone. This is a very safe medication with a wide margin of safety and works very well in many of our patients. Most of them tell us they feel no different, yet they are able to proceed and accomplish dental care as never before. Cool!
5. IV sedation – This method is not an option our Battle Ground endodontists and dentists provide in our practice at Daybreak Dental, but we do have the ability to refer a patient that is seeking complete oblivion for their dental treatment. Patient safety is one of our most primary concerns and you will be in good hands for your sedated dental care. A patient must be escorted and supervised closely once home to be certain they maintain a safe airway and have no adverse reaction –a very rare occurrence.

Appointments

Our office reserves Dr. Fu’s dedicated time for individual patients, as we are all committed to providing you with the best possible dental care. You will greatly appreciate that particular attention just for you while receiving treatment and will quickly see we have a goal to not keep our patients waiting for their care.

However, our efforts become of no apparent value to a few (not you!) when we receive less than 24 hours’ notice that you must cancel or reschedule your dental appointment. That leaves us with dedicated time for an empty dental chair, when we may have turned another patient in need for urgent dental care away to honor our time commitment to you. Repeated last minute cancellations or no shows by a patient will result in their being seen only on our short notice of open appointment time. It is appropriate that Daybreak Dental makes our best effort to accommodate those who give us at least 24 hrs notice of an appointment change—and we REALLY appreciate that!

Financial Information/Insurance

As a courtesy, we accept assignment of benefits payment from most insurance companies. This will reduce your immediate out-of-pocket expenditures, as we ask that you pay only your estimated co-pay amount at the time of service. The outlined estimate is based on limited information obtained from your insurance company so we must stress that you, the patient, are responsible for the total treatment fee should your insurance company deny benefits. We will allow 60 days for your insurance company to make payment. After that time, all inquiries (follow up) on payments due become your responsibility. It is important that you call our office if you have questions regarding an outstanding claim as we are happy to provide assistance resolving this issue.

If you do not have dental insurance, we ask that you pay in full at the time of service. We accept most major credit cards. We will work with you to provide treatment on a schedule to fit your budget.

We offer long-term payment options through Unicorn Financial Services:

• Visa and MasterCard accepted
• CareCredit® accepted so you can receive the treatment you need and make long-term monthly payments with no interest or finance charge.
• Assignment of insurance benefits accepted

If you have an after-hours dental emergency and you are a patient of record at Daybreak Dental, you may reach Dr. Fu by contacting our office at (360) 666-8366.