About Us
Optident Dental Clinic, located in Colchester, Essex, is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This notice explains how we collect, use, store and disclose your personal information when you receive dental care, visit our website, or otherwise interact with us.
Information We Collect
We may collect and process the following types of personal information:
Contact details
- Name, title, date of birth, address, telephone number, email address
• Emergency contact details (when provided)
Health & dental information
- Medical history and health conditions relevant to dental care
• Dental history, treatment plans, clinical notes, consent forms
• X-rays, photographs, scans or models of your teeth and jaw
• Appointment dates and treatment records
• Any correspondence, referrals or reports involving you and other healthcare providers
Financial and administrative data
- Treatment costs, payment records and invoices
• Any third-party financing agreement details (where applicable)
Communications data
- Correspondence via phone, email or post regarding appointments, treatment plans, reminders or feedback
• Records of complaints or feedback, and how they were resolved
Why We Collect Your Data and How We Use It
We use your data for these purposes:
• To plan, provide, and document your dental care
• To schedule appointments and send reminders or follow-up messages (where you consent)
• To manage billing, payments and any financing plans
• To comply with legal and regulatory obligations
• To support quality assurance, audits, complaints handling and clinical review
• With your consent, to inform you about additional services or promotions (you can opt out at any time)
We handle health data carefully under UK data protection law (UK GDPR / Data Protection Act 2018), recognising it as “special category” data.
When We May Share Your Information
We will only share your information when necessary, and only the minimum required, for example:
• With other healthcare professionals (e.g. specialists, hospitals, labs) when needed for your care or referrals
• With third-party service providers under contract (e.g. dental laboratories, finance companies, IT providers), who act only on our instructions and are bound by confidentiality agreements
• With regulatory or statutory authorities if legally required (e.g. NHS payment authorities, courts, public health bodies)
• With your explicit consent for other purposes such as marketing or research
Data Security & Retention
We use secure, professional dental software and secure filing systems to store your records. Access is restricted to authorised staff only. We maintain audit trails, employ technical safeguards and routinely back up electronic data.
Your records are kept for at least 10 years following your last visit or until you reach age 25 (whichever is longer), or as required by law and professional guidance. After this period, non-clinical data may be deleted on request, where appropriate.
Your Rights
Under UK GDPR and related laws, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
• The right to access a copy of the information we hold about you (Subject Access Request)
• The right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• The right to request erasure or restriction of processing, where legally permissible
• The right to withdraw consent (for marketing or optional data use) at any time
• The right to request transfer of your data to another provider (data portability) if technical conditions allow
• The right to object to certain processing, direct marketing, or automated decision-making where applicable
To exercise these rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer (details below).
Data Protection Officer & Contact Information
If you have any questions about how we handle your data, or wish to exercise your rights, please contact:
Data Protection Officer – Optident Dental Clinic
Samantha Sheerin (Practice Manager)
Email: optidentdentalclinic@gmail.com
Address: Optident Dental Clinic, 37 St John’s Street, Colchester, Essex
If you remain dissatisfied, you may contact the UK supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), via www.ico.org.uk.
Website Use & Cookies
When you visit our website, we may collect anonymous usage data (e.g. IP address, browser type, device information). We do not collect or store special-category personal health data through the website unless you submit it voluntarily (for example, via contact or enquiry forms). Please review our separate Cookie Policy for full details.
Changes to This Policy
We regularly review our privacy notice and may update it to reflect changes in legislation or practice. We will post any updates on our website. Please check back occasionally to stay informed.