Privacy policy

This policy explains what personal information Advanced Dental Care Centre collects, why we collect it, how we look after it and what rights you have over it. It covers this website, the patient portal and the records we keep as your dental practice.

Who is responsible for your data

Advanced Dental Care Centre, #20, First Floor, Sector 18-A, Chandigarh – 160018, India, is the data fiduciary for the information described here. For any question about your data, contact us at chandigarhdentist@yahoo.com or +91 98551 23236.

What we collect

When you use this website

• Your name, mobile number and email when you book or enquire
• The treatment you asked about and anything you tell us in the message field
• How you reached the site (search, an advertisement, a link), so we know which of our own efforts are worth continuing

Our own analytics records events such as “a booking was started” without any identifier that links back to a person.

When you become a patient

• Identity and contact details, date of birth and address
• Medical history, allergies, medications and relevant conditions
• Clinical findings, diagnoses, treatment plans and notes
• X-rays, CBCT scans and clinical photographs
• Appointment history, invoices and payment records

Health information is sensitive personal data and we treat it accordingly. We collect the minimum needed to treat you safely — the medical history questions exist because the answers change how treatment is planned, not to build a profile.

Why we use it

• To provide dental care, which is the primary purpose of almost everything we hold
• To arrange, confirm and remind you about appointments
• To issue invoices and process payments
• To meet our legal and professional record-keeping obligations
• To respond to your enquiries

We do not sell your data. We do not share it with advertisers. We do not use your clinical information for marketing.

Messaging you

Appointment confirmations, reminders and receipts are part of providing your care and are sent to the contact details you give us. WhatsApp and SMS messaging require your consent, which you give when booking and can withdraw at any time by replying STOP or telling reception. Withdrawing consent for messages does not affect your treatment.

Who can see your records

• The clinicians involved in your care
• Front-office staff, who can see your contact and appointment details but cannot open your clinical notes
• Our accountant, for invoices and payments only
• A laboratory or specialist we refer you to, with the information they need

Access is controlled by role, every access to a patient record is logged, and those logs are reviewable. Staff who do not need your clinical record cannot reach it.

Service providers

We use third parties for specific functions, each with access limited to that function:

• Cloud hosting and database storage
• WhatsApp, SMS and email delivery for appointment messages
• Payment processing — card and UPI details go to the payment provider, never to us
• Encrypted file storage for X-rays and documents

How long we keep it

Dental records are kept for the periods required by professional and legal obligations, which outlast your treatment and, in the case of records relating to someone treated as a minor, run past adulthood. Website enquiries that do not become patient records are kept for up to two years. Marketing consents are kept as long as the consent stands, plus a record of its withdrawal.

How we protect it

• Encryption in transit and at rest
• Role-based access, with the least access needed for each job
• Audit logging of access to patient records
• X-rays and documents served only through short-lived, signed links
• Regular encrypted backups

No system is perfectly secure, and we would rather say that than imply otherwise. If a breach affects your data we will tell you and the relevant authority.

Your rights

• Ask what we hold about you and get a copy
• Ask us to correct anything inaccurate
• Withdraw consent for messaging or for the use of your photographs
• Ask us to delete your data
• Nominate someone to exercise these rights if you are unable to
• Complain to us, and to the Data Protection Board of India

On deletion, one honest caveat: we cannot delete clinical records we are legally required to retain, and we will not pretend otherwise. Where that applies we will tell you exactly what we are keeping and why, delete everything we are not obliged to keep, and stop all non-essential processing. See your data rights for how to make a request.

Cookies

This site uses a small number of cookies and similar storage: one to keep you signed in to the patient portal, and browser storage to remember which campaign brought you here for the duration of your visit. If analytics is enabled, it is configured with IP anonymisation. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

Children

We treat children, and their records are created and accessed by a parent or guardian. The patient portal is for adults; a guardian manages a child's appointments and records.

Changes

If we change this policy we will update the date above. Material changes affecting how we use patient data will be communicated directly, not just posted.