Missing an appointment

Why does your Dentist invoice you?
Unfortunately, patients sometimes fail to show up for an appointment without giving us any notice. This can happen because they have simply forgotten the appointment, but another reason is that patients are fearful of the treatment. If a patient does not turn up for an appointment, we usually wait a while, as (s)he may be stuck in traffic. By the time it is clear that the patient will not be showing up, it is always too late to be able to allocate the same slot to another patient. This would have been possible however, if the appointment had been cancelled with at least 24 hours’ notice. As a result, the dentist can send an invoice for the time lost while waiting for the patient.

The Dutch Consumers Association (Consumentenbond) and the Dutch Patients Federation (Patiëntenfederatie Nederland) also feel that it is fair to invoice a patient who fails to cancel an appointment.