​

Respecting Your Privacy

​

In order to provide you with a truly personalised experience with the highest standard of dental care, Word of Mouth Dentistry needs to collect some personal information from you. This information covers basic details such as your name, address and telephone number but it is also necessary for the dentist to obtain from you details regarding your general health and past medical and surgical events. Without this general health information, the treating dentist is unable to plan your care properly and we cannot provide the level of personal attention and care that we pride ourselves on.

Some of this information is of a personal nature and some of it might be regarded as 'sensitive' and not the sort of information that you would wish to be unnecessarily disclosed to others.

We value the need to safeguard this information and, in accordance with the principles laid down in privacy legislation and the guidelines issued by the Australian Dental Association, we would like to assure you that:

​

• This information will only be used by the team members that need to know the specific information in order to communicate necessary information with you, provide you with a personalised experience and by the dentist or hygienist that will perform your treatment in order to deliver your care to the highest standards.

• You may seek access to copies of the information held about you and we will provide this access within 30 days and without undue delay. This access might be by inspection of your dental records at the time of appointment or by special access or copying of information at other times.

• There will be no charge made for requesting this information but there may be fees levied just to cover the costs associated with the processing of this request or the copying of information.

• We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the details we keep about you are accurate, complete and up-to-date.

• We will take reasonable steps to protect this information from misuse or loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

• Our team is trained to respect these principles at all times.

​

If you have any questions regarding the information we collect from you and hold in your dental records, please do not hesitate to ask us. We are acting in your interests at all times.

​

How Your Information Is Managed

​

Word of Mouth Dentistry is committed to providing quality dental care for its patients. As a fundamental part of this commitment, the dentist(s) and staff of the practice, recognise the importance of ensuring that our patients are fully informed and involved in their dental care.

Word of Mouth Dentistry is, as a dental provider in the private sector, bound by the National Privacy Principles. These principles set the standards by which we handle personal information collected from our patients.

As a part of our commitment to providing quality dental care it is necessary for us to maintain files pertaining to your dental health. The files contain the following types of information:

​

• Personal details (your name, address, date of birth, drivers licence number);

• Your dental history;

• Your medical history;

• Notes made during the course of dental consultations;

• Referrals to other dental service providers;

• Results and reports received from other dental service providers.

• Any other personal information that you choose to provide us for personalised service.

​​

The information held about you is provided by you or, where necessary for your dental care, may be collected from others as a consequence of information provided by you.

​

Your dental file is handled with the utmost respect for your privacy. The file will be accessed by your dentist, and when necessary, for example in the absence of your usual dentist, by other dentists in the practice. It may also be necessary for our staff to handle your file from time to time to address the administrative requirements of running a dental practice. Our team are bound by strict confidentiality requirements as a condition of employment and legislative requirement regarding your personal information.

​

Ordinarily we will not release the contents of your dental file without your consent. However, where required by law there may be occasions where we will be required to release the details of your file irrespective of whether your consent to the disclosure of the information is given (e.g. in response to a subpoena).

​

We advise that as a patient of this practice you have the rights of access to any information we hold concerning you.

As part of our commitment to preserving the confidentiality of the information contained in your dental record we advise that strict secure storage policies are observed in this practice. Your electronic records are accessible only by staff of this practice are protected by firewalls, strong security passwords and on occasion fingerprint technology. Your paper records are kept in lockable secure filing cabinets and accessible only by practice staff. Each member of staff is well versed in the principles and importance of dentist - patient confidentiality. Security surveillance cameras monitor these areas to ensure contractual privacy policy compliance.

​

Should you, at any time, have a query or complaint in relation to the privacy policies in place at this practice please contact us and we will be happy to address any concerns you may have. We advise that we will make our best endeavour to address complaints within 30 days of receipt of your complaint.