We seek your consent to obtain and process personal data for the purpose of providing you with dental treatment safely and to the highest standards. This Statement is your guide to the principles of privacy and confidentiality which govern the collection, use, storage, disclosure, and destruction of your personal data in this practice. This statement is valid as of January 2026.

Obtaining personal information

It is important to obtain, use, and store information about you, your general, and your dental health in order to provide dental care efficiently and reduce the risk of injury or other damage to your health. We utilize modern practice management systems (Dentally) and Artificial Intelligence tools (Linda AI and Pearl AI) to assist in this process. This personal data includes:

  • Personal details such as your name, date of birth, address, telephone numbers, email address.
  • A doctor and relevant Medical Consultant(s).
  • A medical and dental history.
  • X-rays, clinical photographs, scans, and study models (which may be analyzed by diagnostic AI for precision).
  • Information about proposed treatment, options, consent to treatment, treatment provided, and its cost.
  • Notes of conversations or incidents that might occur for which a record needs to be kept, including transcripts of interactions with our automated AI receptionist.
  • Any correspondence with other healthcare professionals relating to you including agreed referrals.

Your personal information is stored securely in a compliant cloud environment (Amazon Web Services EU) under strict encryption. This practice is compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We will regularly update your personal data, including your medical care, to keep it relevant. We ask that you please inform us of any significant changes, such as a change of address or other contact details, at your earliest convenience. It is important to know that the collection, use, or possible disclosure of this data may be crucial to our ability to safely provide you with the care you require; without your agreement to this process, it may not be possible to undertake treatment.

You have access to a copy of your personal data upon request and the right to have data rectified if incorrect.

Personal data is kept for specified, explicit and lawful purposes

Your personal data is obtained, kept, and used primarily for the purpose of providing you with healthcare efficiently and safely at all times. The database of Docklands Dental is shared with The Institute of Specialist and Cosmetic Dentistry (ISCD). ISCD is a separate dental practice that Docklands Dental works closely with; no unsolicited contact will be made by ISCD without your consent.

Staff within the practice and our authorised technical partners will have access to the data to ensure you receive the highest standard of care. In the course of your care, members of the dental team (assisted by authorised AI tools) may access your records:

  • To prepare for and to complete your dental care.
  • To identify and print a prescription.
  • To generate a work certificate.
  • To type, if dictated, or print a referral letter to another healthcare professional.
  • To open correspondence or any other documents from other healthcare professionals.
  • To analyze your X-rays using Pearl AI (a diagnostic support tool) to ensure no pathology is missed. Note: All final clinical decisions are made by your dentist, not the AI.
  • To print/photocopy your records if you instruct us to forward them to another healthcare professional.
  • To collate, print, photocopy, and post insurance or medico-legal reports.
  • To contact you in regard to incomplete treatment plans or appointment scheduling (via our Linda AI receptionist system).

It is practice policy to send you a reminder of when your next ‘check-up’ is due. This reminder is sent to you by electronic mail or phone. We seek your consent to use your personal data for this purpose and advise you of your right to refuse to have your data used for this purpose.

Personal data is only used and disclosed for the purpose of your care

All members of the dental team adhere to the practice’s Code on Confidentiality in compliance with the GDPR, Data Protection Act 2018, and the Dental Council’s Code of Practice relating to Professional Behaviour and Ethical Conduct.

Any disclosure of personal data, without your consent, can only be done for specified, legitimate reasons (GDPR Article 6 & 9; Section 10, Dental Council’s Code of Practice).

Access to your personal data is on a ‘need-to-know’ basis. This prohibits the release of your information to a spouse, partner, or family member without your explicit consent. A guardian or carer may have the right to access information in the case of vulnerable adults or those with diminished mental capacity. A parent or guardian will have access to your personal information if you are less than 16 years of age.

A copy of your dental records will be transferred to another practice or healthcare professional upon your written request. Your consent will be sought before the release of any data to other healthcare professionals and then only the relevant part of your records will be released. All healthcare professionals are required to treat your personal data to the same standard of privacy as outlined in this statement.

Your consent will be sought in the case of:

  • A report to a dental insurance company.
  • A medico-legal report.
  • Any documentation relating to a “third party” Dental Scheme (e.g., Medical Card or PRSI scheme).

There are certain activities where patient information may be used but where the information is anonymized, eliminating patient identification:

  • Teaching.
  • Continuing Professional Development. Case studies are a very useful learning tool.
  • Quality Assurance/Internal audit. Audit is a necessary tool in assessing and assuring the quality of your care (this may include internal audits using Pearl AI to verify diagnostic standards).
  • Research.

If your dentist should cease practice or should die while still a practicing dentist, the dental team will be guided by the Dental Council’s Code of Practice relating to Professional Behaviour and Ethical Conduct in informing you, safeguarding your personal data, and ensuring continuity of care where possible. Every effort is made to ensure disclosed personal data is accurate and transferred securely.

Personal data is kept safely

Obtained personal data is accessed on a ‘need-to-know’ basis and thereafter, is stored securely:

  • There is no access for unauthorised persons to manual records, computers, or cloud systems within the practice.
  • The dental team is trained in the secure use of email, the internet, and AI tools.
  • The dental team is compliant with the practice’s security measures.
  • The practice premises is locked and alarmed when unoccupied.
  • The practice software (Dentally) is legally owned and hosted on secure, ISO-certified servers.
  • The practice software is updated regularly and protected by Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and encryption.
  • Software security is audited.
  • All clinical, financial, and administrative records are backed up off-site daily by our cloud providers (Dentally/AWS) and supported by iConnect services.
  • A contract for the security of off-site records is in place between Dr. Gregg Barry and our processors (Dentally, Pearl AI, Linda AI, and iConnect).

Sarah Bowler is responsible for dealing with any incident where personal data has been put at risk of unauthorised disclosure, loss, destruction, or alteration. Management of any breach incident will comply with the advice of the Data Protection Commissioner (Personal Data Security Breach Code of Practice).

Personal data is kept accurate, complete and up-to-date

A staff member will review your personal information with you on a regular basis to ensure we hold accurate, high-quality records for you. Any changes to your personal details, your medical or dental status will be recorded in your records. We ask you to let us know of any changes in contact details at your earliest convenience.

Personal data is adequate, relevant and not excessive

Every effort is made to ensure that the information we collect and retain for you is in keeping with our aim to provide you with an efficient service and to care for you safely. We will explain the purpose of any information sought if you are not sure why.

Personal data is retained for no longer than necessary

We retain all adult records for 8 years after the last treatment. In the case of children and young adults, the records are kept until the patient’s 25th birthday; or their 26th birthday if the young person was 17 when they finished treatment. If a patient dies before their 18th birthday, records are kept for 8 years. All records are disposed of by a secure, certified method of destruction (Dental Council Code of Practice relating to Professional Behaviour and Ethical Conduct).

Your rights

You are legally entitled to a copy of your personal data upon written request. As well as a right of access, you also have the right to have any inaccuracies in your data rectified and to have the data erased (where legal). There is no fee for this request. You will be provided with a copy of your X-ray in response to an access request.

You also have the Right to Object to Automated Processing: If you prefer not to interact with our AI receptionist or have your X-rays analyzed by Pearl AI, please inform us, and we will accommodate a human-only alternative.

All written requests should be addressed to: Docklands Dental,1 Forbes Street, Dublin 2

Your request will be dealt with in a timely manner. It is your right to have your name removed from all practice marketing information including ‘check-up’ recalls if you do not consider this information to be in your best interest. If you wish to be removed from our appointment texting service or our marketing/mailing lists please advise our reception team.

If you do not wish to have your personal data collected, used, or disclosed as described in this Statement please discuss this matter with Sarah. It is important to know that the collection, use, or possible disclosure of this data may be crucial to our ability to safely provide you with the care you require; without your agreement to this process it may not be possible to undertake treatment.

If you have a complaint or concern with any aspect of how we process your personal information we would hope that you would notify Sarah Bowler or Dr. Gregg Barry in the first place. You retain the right to make a complaint to the Data Protection Commission at all times. If you have any questions in relation to this Statement or any issue that arises from it please speak with either Sarah or Dr. Gregg Barry.

SECURITY

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. To prevent unauthorised access or disclosure of information we have implemented electronic, physical, and managerial practices to protect the information we collect online. This includes 256-bit encryption and secure cloud protocols.

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Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. Cookies in no way give us access to information about you, other than the information you may have chosen to share with us, following examination of our privacy policy.

Of course, you can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, and declining may affect the performance of the website.

LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. On leaving the docklandsdental.ie domain, we have no control over the privacy or safety policies for any external websites. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information you may provide to these websites and these sites would not be covered by this privacy statement. Please exercise caution when providing information to third parties and if in doubt look at the privacy statement applicable to the website.