Privacy Policy
DENTAL RECORD CONFIDENTIALITYDental records of individual patients are being kept by the dentist and these records are very sensitive so, are kept confidential, one of the reasons while the records are kept confidential is that, they can be followed by any other dentist for further treatment of the affected patient; when necessary.
The records cannot be hidden from the patient whenever he/she demand for it and it could be duplicated or distributed in any way that pleases the patient. Dentists need patients to give precise, close and ample health details to be able to give harmless and definite treatment. No part or complete content of such document could be released to any other person without a prior written authorization of the patient.
Even if a patient attends a private clinic for dental care, the basic ethics of confidentiality and patient rights defined above should be observed into details before any third party could have an access to the patient information, this will allow the patient to see if the information is safe to be released and it is not bastardised by such third party. It is the responsibility of the dentist and the dental health care providers to protect the privacy and secrecy of all their patients even if the patient is ignorant of the necessity to protect his/her personal dental information.
There is no third party be it Insurance company, Dental association, or Government agency that can have a right of entry to any patient dental records to be used fo unconnected information purpose either for healthy history, personal information, or financial status without either the written permission of the patient or court order. Meanwhile, care should be taken to ensure that the individual seeking access to the record is the patient in question and where necessary the practice will seek information from the patient to confirm identity.