Dental Assisting: Case Studies, Patient Files, Imprest Balance, and Patient Recall

This article covers case studies on dental appointment scheduling, preparing patient files, imprest balance calculation, and patient recall. It also includes subject-specific information on dental assisting.

Running head: DENTAL ASSISTING
Dental Assisting
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1DENTAL ASSISTING
Table of Contents
Case Study 1....................................................................................................................................2
Question 1....................................................................................................................................2
Question 2....................................................................................................................................3
Question 3....................................................................................................................................3
Case Study 2....................................................................................................................................3
Case study 3.....................................................................................................................................4
Case study 4.....................................................................................................................................4
Case study 5.....................................................................................................................................5
Reference.........................................................................................................................................6

2DENTAL ASSISTING
Case Study 1
Question 1
Mrs Kathy Hanson wants an appointment for 45 minutes for the restoration of the teeth
44 and 45. She has requested that she wants to leave by 2 PM. Thus after looking at the roster, it
is better to accommodate and place her appointment with DrMatcalf and the timing will be 9:30
AM to 10:45 AM. This time is best for Mrs Kathy because DrMatcalfe has a long gap from 9:15
AM to 10:45 AM. This also satisfies her request of leaving within the 2:00 PM.
Mr Walt Hunter is a new patient and has asked for an appointment for the purpose of
consultation and discussion on the implants and bridge. He has clearly mentioned that he starts
his work at 9:00 AM and his employer does not want to take a day off. The consultation process
can hardly take 15 minutes’ time; thus his appointment is fixed with Dr Mahoney. The timing of
the appointment fixed for Mr Walt is from 8:00 AM to 8:15 AM. Dr Mahoney is chosen for this
appointment because he is the only doctor who is free from in the first part of the morning
schedule and he can provide the consultation that Mr Walt is asking for. Mr Walt's appointment
will be done within 8:15 AM, and thus can go to his office within 9:00 AM.
Mrs Terri White was called into the surgery for the purpose of rescheduling her hygiene
appointment and also for fluoride, polish and scaling appointment for which she was called. As
because she is available any time, thus she can be called anytime as per the empty slot in the
appointment schedule. Rebecca Hygienist has an empty appointment slot from 2:45 PM to 3:45
PM and this time is chosen due to the lengthy procedure of hygiene treatment.

3DENTAL ASSISTING
Question 2
The appointment notification that will be provided to Mrs White via a text message to her phone
number 0440445556. The text message will contain the following information: Mrs Terri White,
due to the cancellation of the of the last week's appointment for hygiene, scale, polish and
fluoride. Your appointment has been rescheduled with Rebecca (Hygienist) and the timing is
from 2:45 PM to 3:45 PM. Kindly, arrive within the 2:40 PM for the check-up.
Question 3
The best way to ensure that whether the patient has understood the information that I have
provided regarding the appointment is through the confirmation via a phone call. All the three
patients have provided their phone numbers and thus in order to convey to message properly and
get the confirmation, a phone call be the best solution. It is important to note that Mrs Terri
White was sent an SMS message in order to convey her appointment with Rebecca (Hygienist).
Calling and confirming whether she has received the message and whether she is able to
understand the message can be beneficial for me as well as the patients.
Case Study 2
The process that I will be using for the purpose of preparing the patient files for the day’s
appointment are as follows:
 It is important to note that in order to make the schedule editable later, I will use
the personal computer to enter the time and schedule the appointments according
to the availability of the time slots.
 According to the appointment book, there are 2 doctors and a single hygienist.
DrMatcalfe has 12 appointments throughout the day along with the appointment

4DENTAL ASSISTING
of Mrs Kathy Hanson. Dr Mahoney also has 12 appointments including the
appointment of Mr Walt Hunter. Rebecca is a hygienist who has 18 appointments
along with the appointment of Mrs Terri White.
 To prepare the patient files for a day’s appointment, it is necessary to note that
there are different kinds of patients like: patients that are new and are coming for
appointment, the second type of patient are the one coming for surgery, and the
third type of patient are the ones coming for an appointment with the hygienist.
 To prepare the files of the patients undergoing surgery will require: checking the
pulse and the blood pressure, and making a list of all the previous dental records
of the patient. The files of the new patients seeking appointments will require the
sorting of the previous dental records if they have any, and check the dental
radiographs if they have brought along with them. There may be old patient that
has the second appointment with the doctor, such patients will bring with them
earlier dental records and dental radiographs. Such records will be sorted based
and checked in the patient file. The third type of patient are the ones that have
come for an appointment with the hygienist, the patient file will contain
information on perio charting, dental radiograph and orthopaedic
reports(American Dental Association 2018).

5DENTAL ASSISTING
Case study 3
Dr. Colin
Mahoney ABN: 123 234 345
Suite 2, 135
Help St. Provider #: 901345
Chatswood
NSW2067 Ph: [phone]
www.cmdebtist.com
Tax Invoice
Mrs.
Catherine
Collins
25 Cashier St.
Chatswood
NSW 2067
Date: 31/03/2018
Invoice #: 22335
Date Patient
Ite
m # Description Cost GST Paid
Balan
ce
10/3/2014
Mrs.
Catherine
Collins 1
Initial
OralExamination
$95.0
0
$9.5
0
$104.
50
$104.
50
10/3/2014
Mrs.
Catherine
Collins 2 Bitewing radiographs
$50.0
0
$5.0
0
$55.0
0
$159.
50
17/3/2014
Mrs.
Catherine
Collins 34 DO GIC
$110.
00
$11.
00
$121.
00
$280.
50
17/3/2014
Mrs.
Catherine
Collins 35 MO GIC
$110.
00
$11.
00
$121.
00
$401.
50
24/3/2014
Mrs.
Catherine
Collins 26
MOD Amalgam
restoration
$150.
00
$15.
00
$165.
00
$566.
50
24/3/2014
Mrs.
Catherine
Collins 1 Electric toothbrush
$125.
00
$12.
50
$137.
50
$704.
00
31/3/2014
Mrs.
Catherine
Collins 11
21 Composite resin
MI restorations
$1,65
0.00
$165
.00
$1,81
5.00
$2,51
9.00
31/3/2014
Mrs.
Catherine
Collins 1 removal of plaque
$75.0
0
$7.5
0
$82.5
0
$2,60
1.50

6DENTAL ASSISTING
31/3/2014
Mrs.
Catherine
Collins 1 fluoride treatment
$35.0
0
$3.5
0
$38.5
0
$2,64
0.00
Case study 4
Statement showing calculation of Imprest Balance
Date Description
Vouche
r GST
Postag
e
Stationar
y
Trave
l Misc
Balanc
e
1/3/2014
Opening
Balance
$150.0
0
2/3/2014
Milk and
biscuits
$0.3
5 $3.50
$146.1
5
5/3/2014 Milk
$0.2
0 $1.80
$144.1
5
6/3/2014 Stationery
$1.2
0 $10.80
$132.1
5
9/3/2014 Stamp
$6.0
0 $54.00 $72.15
12/3/201
4 Taxi fare
$2.7
0
$24.3
0 $45.15
15/3/201
4
Milk and
biscuits
$1.0
0 $9.00 $44.15
15/3/201
4
Cash brought
in
$105.8
5
$150.0
0
Case study 5
Recalling the patients is an important part of the effective care delivery, appointment and
follow-up of the dental patients. The patients are notified via the emails, text and messages so
that the information can be effectively communicated to the patients. A proper and effective
patient ID is maintained for the identifying old and the new patients. After an appointment is
successfully fixed, the patients are provided with a 6 digits ID which is unique for every patient.
This helps in follow up and also helps to segregate the dental information and data specific to a
particular patient. Thus whenever a patient is recalled, it is done by cross-checking the patient

7DENTAL ASSISTING
information already present in the database and followed up with the patient through a call,
message and email. The smart ID which is generated provides an appointment information and
the timing is sent as a reminder via a text message. The patients that do not respond to the recall
request are given a phone call manually and an appointment is set according to the ease of the
patient and the doctor availability. The follow-up call is made to the patient only after getting a
confirmation from the assigned doctor (Avant.org.au 2018).

8DENTAL ASSISTING
Reference
American Dental Association, 2018. Dental Assistant. [online] Ada.org. Available at:
https://www.ada.org/en/education-careers/careers-in-dentistry/dental-team-careers/dental-
assistant [Accessed 21 Apr. 2018].
Avant.org.au, 2018. Avant - Appointment systems. [online] Avant.org.au. Available at:
https://www.avant.org.au/resources/start-a-practice/practice-operations/systems-and-
procedures/appointment-systems/ [Accessed 21 Apr. 2018].