Privacy of Personal Health Information

Last Updated: July 3, 2026

Shoreline Dentistry is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of your personal health information. As a dental practice in Ontario, we act as a health information custodian under Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA), and we also comply with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) where applicable. This notice describes how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal health information.

What Is Personal Health Information?

Personal health information (“PHI”) is identifying information about you that relates to your physical or oral health and care, including your dental and medical history, examination and diagnostic records, x-rays and images, treatment plans and notes, prescriptions, and payment and insurance information connected to your care.

How We Collect Your Information

We collect PHI directly from you whenever possible — for example, when you complete a health-history form, attend an appointment, or speak with our team. With your consent or as permitted by law, we may also collect information from other health-care providers, your insurer, or a substitute decision-maker involved in your care.

How We Use and Disclose Your Information

We use and disclose your PHI to:

• Provide, plan, and coordinate your dental care and treatment;
• Communicate with other health-care providers involved in your care (“circle of care”);
• Process billing, payment, and dental-insurance claims;
• Administer and manage our practice, including quality improvement;
• Comply with legal, regulatory, and professional obligations, including those of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO); and
• Contact you regarding appointments, recalls, follow-up care, and treatment.

We will not use or disclose your PHI for any other purpose without your consent, unless permitted or required by law.

Your Consent

When you seek care from us, we rely on your implied consent to collect, use, and disclose PHI for the purpose of providing treatment within your circle of care. For uses or disclosures outside of your direct care, we will obtain your express consent. You may withhold or withdraw your consent, or place restrictions (“lock-box”) on the use or disclosure of your information, subject to legal and regulatory limits. Withdrawing consent may affect our ability to provide certain services.

Your Rights

Subject to the limited exceptions in PHIPA, you have the right to:

• Access and obtain a copy of your dental records;
• Request a correction to your records if you believe they are inaccurate or incomplete;
• Withdraw or restrict your consent to certain uses or disclosures; and
• Be informed about how your PHI is handled and to make a complaint.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Privacy Officer using the details below.

Safeguards

We protect your PHI with reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards. These include restricting access to those who need it to provide or support your care, staff confidentiality obligations, secure storage of paper and electronic records, and secure handling and disposal of information. No system can be guaranteed to be perfectly secure, but we take our duty to protect your information seriously.

Retention and Destruction

We retain dental records for the period required by the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario and applicable law — generally at least ten years after the date of the last entry, and, for patients who were minors, at least ten years after the day the patient became or would have become eighteen years of age. When records are no longer required, we destroy them securely.

Changes to This Notice

We may update this notice from time to time. The current version will always be available on this page with an updated “Last Updated” date.

Contact and Complaints

If you have questions about your personal health information, wish to access or correct your records, or want to make a complaint, please contact:

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario at ipc.on.ca, or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca.