Cancellation Policy
When you do not attend your appointment it affects more than just you.
Protecting Appointment Availability for All Patients
At Watagan Dental, we are committed to providing timely, high-quality care to every patient. To ensure appointments remain available and our clinical team can operate efficiently, we maintain a clear and structured appointment commitment policy.
The following outlines how we manage appointment changes, missed visits, and booking requirements.
Cancellation & Appointment Commitment Policy
At Watagan Dental, your scheduled appointment time is reserved especially for you and your care. When an appointment is missed or cancelled at short notice, it means:
- Other patients may miss out on care
- Valuable clinical time is left unused
- Our team is unable to assist patients requiring urgent or routine treatment
This policy helps us keep appointments available when they are needed most.
Appointment Reminders & Confirmation
To assist you in attending your appointment:
You will receive an SMS reminder 48 hours before your appointment, with the option to reply Y to confirm.
If your appointment is not confirmed via SMS, our team will contact you the day prior.
Please note — reminders are a courtesy. It remains the patient’s responsibility to attend or provide adequate notice if changes are required.
48-Hour Notice for Changes
We kindly request a minimum of 48 hours’ notice to reschedule or cancel your appointment.
Providing sufficient notice allows us to offer your reserved time to another patient in need of care.
Appointments changed with more than 48 hours’ notice will not incur any fee.
Pre-booked an appointment 3+ months in advance?
If you have booked an appointment over 3 months away you will receive an sms a week before your appointment. This provides plenty of time to reschedule the appointment if something has come up.
Booking Fee Requirement for Future Appointments
If a patient does not attend an appointment, or provides less than 48 hours’ notice to cancel or reschedule, a booking fee will be required to secure future appointments.
How the booking fee works:
- A $75 booking fee is required before securing future appointments.
- The booking fee is applied toward the cost of your appointment when attended.
If your appointment does not incur a cost:
- The booking fee remains on your account as credit and may be applied to a future booking.
If another appointment is missed without adequate notice:
- The booking fee will be forfeited and we may ask you to source a different dental provider
Why We Use a Booking Fee System
Rather than applying discretionary cancellation charges, our approach is:
- Clear and structured
- Consistently applied
- Focused on commitment rather than penalty
Designed to protect appointment availability for all patients. This system allows us to maintain reliable scheduling while continuing to provide high-quality dental care.
Arriving Late
Arriving more than 10–15 minutes late may mean we are unable to safely complete your treatment within the allocated time. In these circumstances, your appointment may need to be rescheduled and managed in line with this policy.
Summary of what happens if you cancel your appointment under 24 hours
Rescheduled >48 hrs in advance ❌ No Fee
First missed / late appointment ❌ No Fee
Future appointments: ✔️ $75 booking fee required
Ongoing cancellations ✔️ Booking fee will be forfeited and you may be asked to source another dental provider
We want to provide the best experience for our patients
Due to our small business size and high demand for appointments, Watagan Dental will request patients who continually cancel appointments at short notice, fail to attend, arrive late, or are simply rude to source another service provider. We only want to provide the best environment for our staff and patients.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING YOU
We're conveniently located on Freemans Drive in Cooranbong. You will find plenty of free parking at the rear of the building right next to our comfortable and relaxing reception.
646 Freemans Drive, Cooranbong NSW 2265
Monday - Friday:
9am - 5pm
