Data Protection

Privacy Notice for Children

What information do we hold?

• Personal details such as your address, date of birth, phone number and email address – this is for the provision of dental health care, providing treatment plans and recalls
• Personal details of family members or emergency contact details
• Medical history including your GP’s name and address
• Information about the treatment we have proposed and provided
• Notes of conversations or incidents that might occur for which a record needs to be kept
• Correspondence to other healthcare professions such as referrals

We keep this information to provide you with the best dental care. Your personal information is kept confidential and secure.

We only use your personal information to provide the best dental care and to send you reminders.

We only pass your personal information to another dentist, doctor, or hospital if you have a problem that requires their special skills and need to see them. We will not give your information to anyone else unless the law allows us to, or we need to provide it for legal reasons.

If you leave the practice, we will stop using your information, but will keep it confidential and secure until you are 25 years old (or 26 years old if you were 17 when your last treatment ended), or for 11 years after the completion of treatment, whichever is longer.

We will then review if and when we can delete it. You can always ask for a copy of the information we hold for you; we can transfer it to another dentist or doctor at your request, and you can ask us to stop using your personal information to send letters or contact you in other ways if you are no longer a patient at the practice.

When you reach 18, the Privacy Notice about how we process your personal information will change to the adult version below.

If you would like a copy of the information we hold about you, or if you have any other enquiries, such as correcting an error in your information or providing a copy of your information to somebody else, please contact:

The Information Governance Lead: Practice Manager: Tunisha Vadukul

School Teeth
Email: info@schoolteeth.co.uk

Last modified February 2026

Privacy Notice for Patients

1. Purpose

School Teeth aims to meet the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018, the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the guidelines on the Information Commissioner’s (ICO) website, and our professional guidelines and requirements.

This privacy notice describes the type of personal information we hold, why we keep it, and what we do with it.

2. What information we collect, use, and why

The personal data we process includes:

Personal details such as your name, date of birth, pronoun preferences, marital status, nationality, national insurance number, address, telephone number and email address
Information about your dental and general health, including clinical records made by dentists and other dental professionals involved with your care and treatment
X-rays, clinical photographs, digital scans of your mouth and teeth, and study models
Medical and dental histories, emergency contact details
Treatment plans and consent
Notes of conversations with you about your care
Dates of your appointments
Details of any complaints you have made and how these complaints were dealt with
Correspondence with other health professionals or institutions
Details of the fees we have charged, the amounts you have paid and some payment details

We may also process more sensitive special category data, including:

Ethnicity, race, religion, health records, sex life information, or sexual orientation.

The reasons we process the data include:

o To fulfil our contract with you
o To maintain a contemporaneous clinical record
o To discuss treatment options
o To provide dental prevention and oral health advice
o To ensure any medication we prescribe is suitable
o To modify treatments based on individual needs
o To meet our obligations under the Equality Act 2010
o To carry out financial transactions
o To manage appointments, recall arrangements and send reminders
o To communicate with your next of kin in an emergency
o To communicate with parents or carers about the person being cared for
o To refer to other dentists, doctors and health professionals as required
o For debt recovery
o To continually improve the care and service you receive from us
o To assist with safeguarding or public protection concerns
o To assist with dealing with queries, complaints or claims

3. Lawful basis (Personal data)

Our lawful bases for processing personal data:

o A legitimate interest to provide evidence-based dental care to patients safely and effectively
o Consent of the data subject
o To comply with our legal obligations

4. Lawful basis (Special category data)

Our Article 9 conditions for processing special category data

o Processing is necessary for ethical and professional health care purposes
o Processing is necessary to monitor and assess the quality of opportunity or treatment between different groups
o Consent of the data subject

5. Data protection rights

You have the following personal data rights:

o The right of access – you can ask for a copy of the data we hold about you. We do not usually charge you for copies of your information; if we charge you, we will explain why
o The right to rectification – you can ask us to correct or delete information if it is inaccurate or incomplete. If we have disclosed that information to a third party, we will let them know about the change
o The right to erasure – you can ask us to delete your personal data. For legal reasons, we may be unable to erase certain information (for example, information about your dental treatment). However, we can, if you ask us to, delete some contact details and other non-clinical information
o The right to restrict processing – you can ask us to limit how we use your personal data. For example, stop sending you appointment reminders or information about our service
o The right to data portability – you can ask us to transfer your personal data to someone else. For example, supplying your information electronically to another dentist
o The right to withdraw consent – you can withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data at any time. For example, even if you have given us consent to send you marketing information, you may withdraw that consent

6. Where we obtain personal information from

We obtain your details when you enquire about our care and service, when you join the practice, when you subscribe to our newsletter or register online, when you complete a registration or medical history form, from family members or carers, and when another healthcare provider refers you for treatment at our practice.

7. How long we keep information

We minimise the data that we keep, and do not keep it for longer than necessary.

We keep your records for 11 years after the date of your last visit to the Practice or until you reach the age of 25, whichever is longer. At your request, we will delete non-essential information (for example, some contact details) before the end of this period.

8. How we store information

We store your personal information securely on our practice computer system. Only those working at the practice have access to your information. They understand their legal responsibility to maintain confidentiality and follow practice procedures to ensure this.
We take precautions to ensure the security of the practice premises, the practice filing systems and computers.
We use high-quality specialist dental software to record and use your personal information safely and effectively. Our computer system has a secure audit trail, and we back up information routinely.

9. Sharing information

To provide you with appropriate care, we might need to share personal data with the following; however, only the minimum information required will be shared:

o Another dentist or another health professional who is caring for you
o Your GP or consultant
o A laboratory
o Dental payment plans or insurers
o Safeguarding organisations

10. Duty of confidentiality

Exceptional circumstances might override the duty to maintain confidentiality. We will inform you of requests to share personal information where possible. The decision to disclose information will only be taken by senior staff. Examples include:

o Situations where there is a serious public health risk or risk of harm to other individuals
o When information is required by the police to prevent or detect crime or to apprehend or prosecute offenders (if not providing the information would prejudice these purposes)
o In response to a court order
o To enable a dentist to pursue a legal claim against a patient

11. Registered name

The data controller is Tunisha Vadukul.

12. Contact details

If you have an enquiry or request, please contact Tunisha Vadukul
Email: info@schoolteeth.co.uk

This privacy notice is also available https://www.schoolteeth.co.uk/data-privacy-policy/ or requested from the Practice by emailing or calling directly.

13. Concerns

If you have any comments, suggestions, or complaints about how we use your data, you can contact us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

14. Review and Revision

This privacy notice is reviewed annually and updated to ensure its effectiveness and compliance with current regulations, guidance, and standards. Next revision September 2026.

15. If you do not wish personal data we hold about you to be disclosed or used in the way that is described in this Policy, please discuss the matter with your dentist. You have the right to object, but please remember that this may affect our ability to provide you with dental care.