Office Policies & Mission

Office Hours

We are open to serve you, answer questions or schedule an appointment during the following hours:

Our Mission

Our vision for this practice is to greet every patient in a warm, personal manner, to anticipate their wants and needs and to provide friendly, skilled and sincere service… to exceed their expectations.

We are dedicated to using the most efficient and up-to-date techniques in an atmosphere that fosters caring, concern, fun and lasting relationships.

Our goal is to create excellent smiles by maximizing each staff member’s talents and ability to work together as a team. We will strive for a positive and winning attitude every day and to seek new challenges and achieve them enthusiastically.

Appointments Scheduling

Your treatment plan has been created specifically for you, so it is important to return for adjustment appointments according to schedule. Keeping appointments will help treatment be completed on time and prevent emergency visits.

As a courtesy, our office makes reminder calls for all appointments. However, the responsibility for keeping appointments rests with the patient. The specialized visits required to begin orthodontic treatment are confirmed by a personal call from one of our staff members. After treatment has started, appointments are confirmed by HouseCalls, our personalized, automated reminder system.

We understand that your time is important and missing school or work for orthodontic appointments can be inconvenient. We strive to provide flexible appointment times that will work with your schedule. However, it is unavoidable that some appointments will have to take place during school and work hours. School excuses are available at each appointment if needed.

To achieve the treatment goals designed for you by Dr. Fravel, it is necessary to perform a sequence of treatment procedures. The procedures require different appointment lengths (15 minutes – 2 hours) at different intervals (2 weeks – 12 weeks). Our schedule has been designed to accommodate our patients in the most fair and convenient manner possible.
Emergencies: pain, swelling, or bleeding normally as a result of

trauma to the face or mouth. These patients will be seen as soon as possible to relieve discomfort.

• Repairs: These appointments are normally for broken wires, loose bands or brackets or lost or broken appliances or retainers. These appointments are usually longer and scheduled during school or work hours.
• Comfort Adjustments: An uncomfortable appliance or poking wire will be adjusted to relieve discomfort. This appointment will be scheduled as soon as possible.
• Broken of Cancelled Appointments: The appointment will be rescheduled but may require the appointment to be in 4-6 weeks. However, an earlier appointment date may be offered during school or work hours.

True orthodontic emergencies are rare; however, during appliance wear, some situations do require immediate attention. If at any time you are hit in the mouth or experience trauma to the mouth, your general dentist should be seen immediately. IF appliances are damaged, loosened or causing pain, contact our office immediately. For other “minor emergencies” such as loose bands or braces (not as a result of trauma) and wires sticking into gums or cheeks, please call our office during regular hours to schedule and appointment. Soft wax may be used for comfort until you can be seen. Missing colored o-rings are not an emergency and can be replaced at the next regular appointment. For true emergencies after business hours, please call our office at 407-656-0001. You will be given a pager number to call with your call-back number, and your call will be returned as soon as possible.

Referrals

We certainly welcome and appreciate referrals. Your friends and family needing orthodontic care mean a lot to us. There is no greater compliment to our office than to have a personal referral from another patient! We will be honored to have the opportunity to treat them with the same enthusiastic and professional care you have received.