1. Introduction
N3 Smiles (“we”, “us”, “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we may collect, how we use it, why we use it, how long we keep it and what rights you have under UK data protection law.
This policy applies to visitors to our website, patients, prospective patients, parents or guardians, suppliers, professional partners and anyone who contacts us about our dental services.
This Privacy Policy is intended to reflect applicable data protection requirements in the United Kingdom, including UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
3. Personal Information We Collect
We may collect personal information when you contact us, complete an online form, request an appointment, book a dental visit, email us, call us or use our website.
The personal information we may collect includes:
- Your name
- Your phone number
- Your email address
- Your address or general location where relevant
- Your appointment details
- Your treatment enquiry or dental concern
- Information you provide in forms, emails or telephone conversations
- Communication history between you and N3 Smiles
- Website usage information such as pages visited, device type and general analytics data
4. Dental and Health Information
As a dental clinic, we may collect health-related information that is necessary to provide safe and appropriate dental care. This may include:
- Medical history
- Dental history
- Medication details
- Allergy information
- Oral health information
- Treatment notes
- Clinical photographs where clinically relevant
- X-rays, scans or diagnostic records where required
- Consent records and treatment plan information
- Emergency dental information where applicable
Health and dental information may be classed as special category data under UK data protection law and is handled with additional care.
5. How We Collect Your Information
We may collect information directly from you when you:
- Submit an enquiry through our website
- Book or request a dental appointment
- Contact us by phone or email
- Attend the clinic for consultation or treatment
- Complete medical history or consent forms
- Provide information to a dentist, dental therapist, hygienist or member of our team
- Use or browse our website
We may also receive technical information automatically through website analytics tools, cookies or server logs.
6. How We Use Your Personal Information
We use your personal information to:
- Respond to enquiries
- Arrange and manage appointments
- Provide dental assessments, treatment and ongoing care
- Review your medical and dental history
- Create and maintain clinical records
- Send appointment confirmations, reminders or service communications
- Manage cancellations, rearrangements and follow-ups
- Handle payments, invoices and administration
- Respond to complaints, concerns or requests
- Meet legal, regulatory, professional and clinical obligations
- Improve our website, services and patient experience
7. Lawful Basis for Processing
Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing personal information. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:
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Contract: to provide appointments, consultations, treatment or services you have requested.
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Legitimate interests: to respond to enquiries, manage clinic operations, communicate with patients and improve services.
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Legal obligation: to keep records or comply with legal, tax, regulatory, safeguarding, professional or clinical requirements.
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Consent: where you have clearly agreed to a specific use, such as optional marketing communications or certain optional uses of information.
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Vital interests: where processing may be necessary to protect someone’s life or health in an emergency.
8. Special Category Data
Dental and health information is treated as special category data. We may process this information where it is necessary for healthcare, clinical assessment, diagnosis, dental treatment, patient care, record keeping and related professional obligations.
We will only process health-related information where it is relevant and necessary for the purpose of providing dental care, managing appointments, protecting patient safety or meeting legal and professional obligations.
9. Appointment and Booking Information
When you book or request an appointment, we may collect your name, contact details, requested treatment, preferred date and time, notes you provide and booking history.
Appointment information is used to manage clinic diaries, contact patients, confirm appointments, deal with cancellations and provide appropriate dental care.
10. Children and Parents or Guardians
Where we provide dental care to children, we may process information relating to the child and the parent or guardian responsible for arranging the appointment.
Parents or guardians should ensure that the information provided to us is accurate and up to date. Where consent or involvement of a parent or guardian is required, we will act in line with appropriate clinical and legal requirements.
11. Sharing Your Information
We do not sell your personal information. We may share relevant information only where necessary to provide dental care, manage our clinic, comply with the law or protect patient safety.
We may share limited information with:
- Dental professionals involved in your care
- Dental laboratories where required for treatment
- Specialist referral providers where referral is needed
- Booking, website, IT, hosting or communication service providers
- Payment or accounting service providers
- Professional advisers such as legal or accounting advisers
- Regulators, authorities, courts or insurers where legally required
Where we use service providers, we expect them to protect personal information and use it only for the agreed purpose.
12. Dental Referrals and External Providers
If your dental care requires referral to another dental professional, specialist, laboratory, imaging provider or healthcare provider, we may share relevant clinical information to support safe and appropriate care.
We will only share information that is relevant to the referral, treatment or service being provided.
13. Cookies and Website Analytics
Our website may use cookies or similar technologies to improve functionality, analyse website performance and understand how visitors use our website.
Cookies may collect information such as browser type, device type, pages visited, approximate location and interaction with the website. You can usually control or disable cookies through your browser settings.
14. Marketing Communications
We may contact you about your enquiry, appointment, treatment or clinic-related service messages. These communications are usually necessary to manage your care or respond to your request.
We will not send unrelated marketing communications unless we have a lawful basis to do so. If you receive marketing communication from us and no longer wish to receive it, you can contact us and ask to opt out.
15. How Long We Keep Your Information
We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected, including patient care, clinical records, legal, accounting, insurance, regulatory and dispute-handling purposes.
Dental and clinical records may need to be retained for longer than general enquiry information because they are part of a patient’s healthcare record and may be needed for ongoing care, legal compliance and professional obligations.
16. How We Protect Your Information
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure. This may include secure storage, access controls, staff confidentiality and careful handling of patient and clinical information.
No website, email system or online service can be guaranteed completely secure. You should take care when sending personal or sensitive information online.
17. International Transfers
Where possible, we aim to use service providers that process information within the UK or countries with appropriate data protection safeguards.
If personal information is transferred outside the UK, we will take reasonable steps to ensure it is protected in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.
18. Your Data Protection Rights
Under UK data protection law, you may have rights in relation to your personal information, including:
- The right to be informed about how your data is used
- The right to access personal information we hold about you
- The right to request correction of inaccurate information
- The right to request deletion of your information in certain circumstances
- The right to restrict or object to certain processing
- The right to data portability in certain circumstances
- The right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
These rights may be subject to legal limits, professional obligations, clinical record requirements or other lawful reasons for retaining information.
19. Subject Access Requests
You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. To help us respond, we may need to verify your identity and ask for details about the information you are requesting.
We will aim to respond within the time required by UK data protection law. Some health information may be subject to restrictions where disclosure would be harmful or where it includes information about another person.
20. Complaints
If you have concerns about how we use your personal information, please contact us first so we can review and try to resolve the issue.
You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection matters.
21. Third-Party Websites
Our website may contain links to third-party websites or services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of third-party websites.
You should read their own privacy policies before providing personal information.
22. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements or clinic operations. The latest version will be available on our website.
23. Governing Law
This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes will be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.