Dental Fear Prevents Birmingham Dental Hospital Patients from Attending Appointments
Thousands of patients are not attending dental appointments at Birmingham Dental Hospital due to dental phobia.
The patients’ own dentists often send them to the specialist centre to have complex procedures carried out, however at least 30 patients per day fail to arrive for these important appointments.
The facility has introduced a new set of rules to combat the problem.
Patients are now being told if they do not turn up to their appointments without making a cancellation, they will be removed from the waiting list.
Managers at the hospital do admit that dental anxiety is one of the biggest reasons for the DNAs (Did Not Attends).
Another reason is the time lapse between booking an appointment and receiving assessment and treatment is about two months.
During the intervening period, patients are likely to forget they’ve made a booking, particularly if the dental problem goes away temporarily.
Birmingham Dental Hospital, located in the city centre at St. Chad’s Queensway, helps patients deal with problems too complicated for dental practices in the local area.
According to the hospital, there were 10,000 DNAs in 2014. That’s 30 for each working day. This equates to one in ten of all scheduled appointments.
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