When contacting please note the following;
It is helpful if your enquiry includes your name, address, an evening or mobile contact number & your preferred time to receive a call.
If you have the ability to do so please include digital photographs of your smile with your e-mail.
Please include some brief details of your dental problem and any questions you feel we haven't covered in this section below or are not addressed within this website .
Share with us your needs, goals and aspirations and we will endeavour to advise you how we might work together to help you achieve them.
We have strived to fill this website with all the information you could possibly want to know. We are continually editing and adding to this site on a weekly basis, making it one of the largest dental practice websites anywhere in the world. We sincerely hope that we have answered most things you could think to ask however listed below are the most common questions we still get asked by phone and in emails.
Frequently asked questions;
How do I discuss my case with someone at your practice in an e-mail or voicemail?
Our preferred method of initial enquiry is via e-mail or you may call on on freephone 08000 431 421. If we are not available to receive your call please leave your details in a voicemail.
At the Chrysalis we do not rely on sales people, lay people, reception staff or "treatment co-ordinators" to sell you anything. It will either be Dr Ahlowalia himself or his assistant Gillian Greaves who answers your call.
If you e-mail it will be Dr. Ahlowalia who personally replies to your enquirey to discuss your case and unless you request otherwise this will usually be after scheduled surgery hours. Dr. Ahlowalia will endeavour to personally respond to all enquiries within 24 hours but please be patient.
Why the personal touch? Many request information or answers to questions that cannot be answered by anyone who does not have the full knowlege and expertise of a dentist and even then some answers cannot be given without a comprehensive examination of the problem. Gillian Greaves has worked alongside Dr Ahlowalia for over 18 years and may be able to discuss most technical queries on his behalf however where necessary she will gladly pass your details onto Dr Ahlowalia for a personal response.
Dr. Ahlowalia believes every client is an important individual, deserving of his personal touch, time and attention from the outset.
We therefore aim to provide as much initial relevant information as possible within this website and strongly urge our clients to make full use of the information herein.
I have contacted you but have received no reply, why?
We apologise if due to demand we have not yet responded but in the meantime please check you have provided the contact information requested above and check your Spam filter for emails from Dr Raj Ahlowalia.
Do you have a brochure?
We do have a brochure but please note; this website provides the most superior media for all our up to date published information. It is far more comprehensive than our brochure.
If you are reading this you have at your disposal access to far more information than any brochure could ever display.
How do I know what your fees will be when you do not publish a price list and without such a guide how can I compare you to another practice?
We feel our fees for service fairly reflect the high levels of training, expertise, time, care and service we and our highly skilled technicians provide.
Rather like lawyers, we charge for our professional time plus expenses.
Every case is different, vary in time to complete and there are many options and prices for you to select from with regard to choice of technician and materials. Without discussing these aspects with you in person, providing you a tailored bespoke service, we couldn't possibly know what the fees are likely to be.
We choose to judge ourselves by our quality.
What do we mean by this? Well to make an analogy let's suppose you want to build a beautiful house;
We often receive single sentence enquiries such as; 'How much do you charge for a veneer / implant / bridge' etc.
If you phoned a set of builders and asked 'How much to build a house / porch / new bathroom?' etc, would you be surprised if the resonse was; 'How big? Where? What am I building it on? Do you have plans yet? How about planning consent?,What quality materials? What's your budget?'
Dentistry is very similar. We need to know what the starting point is, what your end goal is and what your budget is to determin how to get you to your goal from where you are in the best materials you can afford.. and cover our costs and of course make a living so that we can stay in business and help others.
You choose the builder because you've spoken with him, met him, find him honest, trustworthy, seen a portfolio of his work and noted testimonials of satisfied clients?
What the builder you choose charges per brick or bag of cement is quite meaningless when all that really matters is that the finished job be to your satisfaction, meeting or exceeding your goals and expections and is within the budget you discussed with him. The job that you require him to do is unique and bespoke for you.
In just the same way your mouth, dental goals and aspirations are unique. The service we will provide for you will likewise be unique, bespoke and tailored to meet your needs and thus too the fee.
In dentistry, or any other industry, if comparison of fees for each item were the only criteria required to compare service then you'd only really be left with a choice of two dentists; the cheapest in the phone book or the most expensive.
You'd be right to expect that the service received from these two would be quite different.
So what level of service do you want for yourself? If it was brain or heart surgery would you shop for price or would you seek out the quality of service you deserve?
Comparison of our fees and in fact those of any practice are quite meaningless without an understanding of how different our qualities and our client care phillosophies truly are. This can only be judged once personally experienced.
We believe our quality is second to none as we devote every effort to providing our clients optimal care and a pre-eminant service.
It is virtually impossible for us to describe what makes us special. Our approach can really only be fully appreciated once experienced.
What quality do you want and what quality do you deserve? If you want the highest quality you've found the right choice. If you want a budget price or a cheap service we make no appology for saying you haven't found it here.
Only once the nature of your particular dental problem has been discussed, examined and assessed thoroughly alongside your particular goals and aspirations can we begin to discuss an appropriate fee for your personalised treatment. If we receive an email asking for a quote don't be surprised if our reply includes a link to this FAQ section.
Where uncertainty still exists we cordially invite you to simply compare our initial consultation experience with that of any other practice. If you still believe we are not up to the standards you desire we would ask you to tell us where we fall short of your expectations so we may strive to continually better ourselves and the services we provide.
What if after your initial examination I agree you are the best choice for me but I simply cannot afford your detailed optimal treatment?
As we mentioned above, if we know in advance your starting point, your goals and your budget we can try to figure out a treatment plan to suit you. However we are obliged to first inform you what we believe is your optimal treatment. If budget is a limiting factor it is a compromising factor that you may choose to impose.
If you still wish to have optimal care you could consider extending the treatment timetable to achieve optimal care over a period that suits you. Not every dental rehabilitation needs to be done in three visits or less as we do on TV makeover shows. By all means, to achieve your goals, we can take the time you need.
Third party financing is an alternative. Clients may pay by credit card or you can arrange your own financing through your bank to fund treatment over whatever period you choose.
It is still your right to choose to compromise the treatment to more affordable but perhaps less than optimal options.
In virtually all cases we can provide details of many options extending from optimal care right down to no treatment but we may reserve the right in certain circumstances to refer a client to seek an alternative practitioner rather than undertake compromised care ourselves.
When the first two options exist we may see no reason to compromise our professional integrity and duty of care towards a client's well being if they choose a less than ideal treatment option.
I've seen you perform miraculous dental work in under six weeks on TV, can you fix my problems that fast?
We understand that sometimes a special occasion like a wedding, or travel arrangements, particularly for our foreign clients, may restrict the timetable window within which we are required to complete treatment. Sometimes it is possible to accomodate such time constraints, sometimes it is not. Where we feel a timetable is unrealistically tight or rushed we may be forced to refuse to undertake treatment especially if long term dental health implications are foreseen.
Dr. Ahlowalia invites those considering a dental makeover for a special occasion to make initial enquiries as soon as possible to avoid dissapointment.
What do you think of cheap dentistry available abroad?
Everything is available cheaper somewhere
Good luck!
Check your holiday insurance covers you for problems with elective as opposed to essential medical treatment abroad. You'll likely find it wont.
There are great dentists and terrible dentists everywhere in the world. How you plan to discover which one you get is entirely at your risk and your right to take.
How you seek satisfaction if your treatment doesn't go well is a problem you should consider in advance.
We will not take responsibility for continuing partially completed treatment undertaken abroad.
Click here to e-mail the Chrysalis. or leave your contact details on our Freephone Voicemail 08000 431 421.