Office Information

Hours—we are open Monday and Wednesday from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM.  On Tuesday and Thursday we open at 8:30 AM and close at 5:00 PM.  Friday’s hours are from 8:30 until 1:00 PM.  Dr. Morris is not in the office on Wednesdays.  Our lunch hour is generally from 12:00 noon to 1:30 PM.  There are no office hours on the weekends.   

Appointments—of necessity, we must work by appointment.  This allows us to allocate an appropriate time period for each patient’s care.  Since patients do not have emergencies or illnesses on schedule and since operations do not always run on time, occasional delays are unavoidable.  A sincere effort is made to stay on schedule and we appreciate your patience, if asked to wait.  When possible, we will call to let you know of an unusual delay in our appointments in order to avoid long waits in our office.  Likewise,  if you are unable to keep your appointment or are likely to be late, please call to reschedule so that we may use that time for someone else in need.

Office Forms—at your first visit, you will be asked to fill out Patient Information and Medical History forms.  These are located and down-loadable at this website under Forms.  They will become a part of your confidential office record.  The information to be filled-in aids in many aspects of your care at our office from prescriptions, to insurance filings, to medical decisions during surgery.  We thank you for cooperating in regards to our needed forms. 

Telephone—our telephone is answered by our staff during working hours and by an answering service after hours.  Should you call after hours and your concerns are not addressed in a timely fashion, please call back to inform the operator that you have not been contacted.  Since it is impossible to have Dr. Morris be on call 24 hours each day all year, he will occasionally share call with a local Oral Surgeon in whom he has confidence.  In the event that you need assistance after hours, please call our office phone number (727.391.0273) and Dr. Morris, our staff, or the on-call surgeon will return your call.  During office hours, my staff has been instructed to handle calls.  For the doctor to leave a patient during treatment to answer a call would be unfair to that patient.  Our staff can assist you with most questions.  If they are unable to help you, Dr. Morris will return your call when able.

Prescriptions—we suggest that you anticipate your medication needs so that refills can be handled during office hours.  We will not refill prescriptions after hours, because we do not have access to your office record.  Prescriptions are based on current illnesses and treatments.  Problems that are chronic or progressive must be reviewed for new findings and possibly more effective medications.  Long-term conditions often need to be re-evaluated before medications can be renewed.  WHEN CALLING ABOUT A PRESCRIPTION, HAVE YOUR PHARMACY TELEPHONE NUMBER AVAILABLE.          

Anesthesia—we offer several options to control pain and anxiety.  Your procedure can often be performed using only local anesthesia.  If anxiety is a concern, nitrous oxide and oxygen will provide light sedation.   A more difficult procedure may require intravenous sedation or anesthesia.  Many patients may benefit from orally administered sedatives.  Some situations might even require that the patient be admitted to a local hospital for in-patient general anesthesia.  Oral Surgeons receive months of General Anesthesia training during their residency.  This topic will be discussed with you when you appoint or at the time of your consultation.  Our patients who require intravenous sedation or anesthesia must not eat or drink anything for eight hours prior to the surgery, and must have a responsible adult to transport them home.