No, the ARDC is a charitable not-for-profit dental clinic.

We provide affordable dental care to members of our community with Medicaid benefits and without dental insurance. Patients with no insurance are ask to pay a copay for their appointments ($35 or $65 depending on their income).

There are several reasons. First, it takes a great deal of money to equip and staff the clinic forty hours a week; more money than a nonprofit dental safety net clinics can raise by donations.

Second, because we accept Medicaid insurance, we are required by law to charge for services received by patients who do not have Medicaid.

If you have Medicaid/Smiles For Children insurance, you may have no direct costs for a covered procedure.

If you don’t have insurance, then your cost will be determined by your income level. If your household income is below 300% of the federal poverty level, then you will qualify for a deeply discounted copay per visit.

The ARDC provides general dentistry services such as routine exams and cleanings, emergency consultations, fillings, extractions, and some specialists services (like root canals and crowns)

No, all our visits are appointment based.

Our clinic is the only facility offering affordable dental care within a 40 miles radius. As such, we are facing a level of demand way superior to our capacity. We will do our best to schedule you as soon as possible but we ask for your patience while we work to increase our capacity.

Please refer to our “Patients” menu for more precise information depending on your insurance status.

All patients must bring the following form filled for their 1st appointment: Medical History Form, Clinic Policy Form and Consent Form (or Minor Consent Form for patients ages 0-18yo)

All appointments must be confirmed by noon the business day prior to your appointment. We will reach out to you by text message and phone calls so make sure to keep your contact information up to date at all times. If you do not confirm your appointment, it will automatically cancel from our schedule and you will have to make a new appointment.

The ARDC accepts patients of all ages!

Late arrival policy:

In order to allow our team to provide you care in the best possible conditions, we ask our patients to arrive on time for their appointments. Should you arrive more than 10 minutes late for your visit, you will have to reschedule and this will count as a missed appointment.

Rescheduling/canceling your appointment:

ARDC patients are welcome to reschedule/cancel their appointments up to 24-hr prior. After that, rescheduling will count as a short cancellation/missed appointment.

Missed appointments and dismissals:

An appointment is considered missed when:

• A patient asks to reschedule an appointment giving us less than 24-hr notice

• A patient does not show up to an appointment

• A patient shows up more than 10 min late to an appointment

• A patient arrives unprepared for an appointment (failure to take pre medication, patient comes to appointment with an accompanying minor/without childcare)

Two missed appointments within a 12 month period will result in temporary dismissal from the clinic.

One missed appointment with an off-site dentist, community event (i.e. Dentalpalooza) or for a new patient first visit will result in being suspended for a year and you will lose your pre-paid deposit.

One missed appointment for major specialized dental services (i.e. crowns, root canals) will result in you no longer being able to schedule for those services with that provider.

You may appeal any dismissal decision within 30 days of receipt of the notification. All appeals will be considered by the ARDC management team. Reinstallation of clinic privileges after the one year period is not guaranteed.

Please understand that our clinic is facing long wait lists as many in our community need quality affordable dental care. As such, and while we will always try to accommodate our patients the best we can, a missed appointment means a missed opportunity for care for another neighbor in need.

After two missed appointments, you will receive a dismissal letter and will not be allowed to schedule a visit for a year. After that you may apply to become an ARDC patient again pending our capacity. Dismissal decisions can be appealed via the following email address: claims@augustafreeclinic.org (we ask you to please not call the ARDC to discuss your dismissal as our receptionists are not involved in the decision).

The ARDC thrives to provide quality, professional and compassionate care to all patients. Respect, empathy and active listening are at the cornerstone of our mission. Patients displaying disrespectful, rude, racist, discriminatory, threatening or aggressive behavior/language toward any member of the ARDC staff will be immediately dismissed from the clinic with no possibility to establish care again.