Privacy Policy | Oakridge Park Dental Vancouver, BC

At Oakridge Park Dental, we are committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information in compliance with the British Columbia Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and other applicable laws and professional guidelines.

1. Our Commitment to Your Privacy

We understand the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of your personal health information. Our commitment to privacy is fundamental to providing you with quality dental care. All staff members who handle your personal information are trained in appropriate privacy practices and are aware of the sensitive nature of the information you entrust to us.

2. What is Personal Information?

Under PIPA, “personal information” means information about an identifiable individual. This includes, but is not limited to:

Your name, address, telephone number, and email address
Date of birth
Dental and medical history (including physical and mental health)
Health care numbers (e.g., BC Services Card number)
Financial information for billing purposes
Information related to your appointments and treatments
Mobile phone number (when provided for SMS communications)

3. Why We Collect Personal Information

We collect your personal information for the following purposes:

To deliver safe, efficient, and comprehensive dental care.
To assess your health needs and advise you of appropriate treatment options.
To maintain an accurate and complete patient record.
To communicate with you regarding appointments, treatment, and general dental health information, including via SMS/text message where you have provided consent.
To communicate with other treating health care providers, including other dental professionals or referring dentists, with your consent.
To process payments, manage accounts, and provide receipts for your records.
For quality assurance, risk management, and to improve our services.
To comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including those of the College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia (CDSBC) and other regulatory bodies.
For teaching and demonstrating purposes on an anonymous basis (where identifiable information is removed).

4. How We Collect Personal Information

We collect personal information directly from you through:

Patient intake forms and medical history questionnaires.
Discussions with our dentists and staff during appointments.
Correspondence via phone, email, SMS/text message, or our website contact form.
Through the use of our website, which may automatically log non-identifiable details such as your IP address, device type, and browsing patterns for analytics to improve website functionality (see Section 12: Cookies & Website Analytics).

Occasionally, we may collect personal information about you from other sources with your consent (e.g., from a previous dental office, other dental professional, or your physician) or if the law permits.

5. Consent

Your knowledge and consent are required for the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information, except in limited circumstances where permitted or required by law (e.g., in an emergency or for law enforcement purposes).

By providing your personal information to us and continuing to receive services, you are giving your informed consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information for the purposes outlined in this policy. You may withdraw your consent for the use or disclosure of your personal information at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. We will explain the ramifications of your decision at that time.

6. Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention

We will only use or disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected, or for purposes reasonably related to those purposes, unless we obtain your further consent or if required or permitted by law. We do not sell patient lists or personal information to other parties.

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the identified purposes or a legal or business purpose, in accordance with applicable legislation and professional guidelines. When your personal information is no longer required, it will be securely destroyed or anonymized.

7. Accuracy of Personal Information

We make reasonable efforts to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete, and up-to-date for the purposes for which it is used. We encourage you to inform us promptly of any changes to your personal information to ensure our records are accurate.

8. Safeguarding Personal Information

We protect your personal information with appropriate security safeguards, whether it is recorded on paper or electronically. Measures include:

Physical security (e.g., locked filing cabinets, secure offices).
Technological safeguards (e.g., password protection, encryption, firewalls, secure networks).
Administrative measures (e.g., strict staff training, confidentiality agreements, limited access to information on a “need-to-know” basis).
Secure disposal of records.

We regularly review and update our security measures to protect your information against unauthorized access, disclosure, use, alteration, or destruction.

9. Access to Your Personal Information

You have the right to request access to your personal information held by our clinic. You can also request a correction to your personal information if you believe it is inaccurate or incomplete. All requests must be made in writing to our Privacy Officer. We will respond to your request within 30 days, or inform you if a longer period is required.

10. SMS/Text Message Communications & Data

When you opt in to receive SMS/text messages from Oakridge Park Dental, we collect and use your mobile phone number for the purpose of sending appointment reminders, confirmations, follow-up care instructions, and occasional practice updates. The following applies to your SMS data:

Data collected: Your mobile phone number, opt-in status, opt-in date and method, message history (sent/received), and opt-out requests.
Data use: Your phone number is used solely for the purposes described above and is not shared with, sold to, or rented to any third parties for their own marketing purposes.
Third-party service providers: We may use a third-party messaging platform to deliver SMS messages on our behalf. These providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and use it only for the purpose of delivering our messages.
Data retention: Your SMS consent records and message logs are retained for a minimum of five years, as required by applicable regulations, or for as long as you remain an active patient, whichever is longer.
Opt-out: You may withdraw your consent to receive SMS messages at any time by replying STOP to any message, or by contacting us at 604-266-5313 or [email protected]. Opting out of SMS does not affect your ability to receive dental care.

Our SMS communications comply with Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) and applicable CRTC regulations. For patients in the United States, our practices also adhere to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

11. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Oakridge Park Dental may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist in creating educational and informational content for this website, including descriptions of dental procedures, blog articles, and general oral health information. AI tools may also be used in administrative communications such as appointment reminders and patient correspondence.

With respect to your privacy and AI:

We do not input your personal health information, patient records, or any identifiable personal data into public or third-party AI systems.
AI is not used to make clinical decisions about your dental care. All treatment decisions are made by our licensed dental professionals.
All AI-generated content published on this website is reviewed and approved by our dental team for accuracy before publication.
Any AI tools used in our administrative processes operate under the same privacy and security safeguards described in this policy.

12. Cookies & Website Analytics

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to improve your browsing experience and help us understand how visitors use our site. Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website.

Types of cookies we use:

Essential cookies: Required for the website to function properly (e.g., navigation, security, form submissions). These cannot be disabled without affecting site functionality.
Analytics cookies: Collect anonymous, aggregated data about how visitors interact with our website (e.g., pages visited, time on site, referral source). This data helps us improve our website and services. We use privacy-focused analytics that do not track individual users across websites.
Functional cookies: Remember your preferences (e.g., language, previously viewed pages) to provide a more personalized experience.

What we do not do with cookies:

We do not use cookies for targeted advertising or retargeting.
We do not sell or share cookie data with third parties for marketing purposes.
We do not use cookies to collect personal health information.

You may manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website. Our use of cookies complies with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and British Columbia's PIPA.

13. Inquiries and Complaints

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about our privacy practices or this Privacy Policy, please contact our Privacy Officer:

Privacy Officer: The Practice Manager
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 604-266-5313
Mail: #305 – 650 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 2M9

If you are not satisfied with our response to your privacy concern, you have the right to contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC BC).

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia
Address: PO Box 9038 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria BC V8W 9A4
Phone: (250) 387-5629
Website: www.oipc.bc.ca

14. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The most current version will always be posted on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of our website or services after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.