Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

This website, finedentalhoustontx.com, is operated by Fine Dental Care, a dental practice located at 955 Dairy Ashford Road, Suite 107, Houston, Texas 77079. In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" mean Fine Dental Care. "You" means anyone visiting this website or submitting information through it.

You can reach us at (281) 809-3595 or finedentalcarec@gmail.com. Full contact details are in section 17.

2.What this policy covers — and what it doesn't

This policy explains what happens to information you give us through this website: the contact form, the online booking link, and the data your browser sends automatically when you visit.

This policy also does not cover information you give to a third party through their own platform — for example our online booking system or our Facebook and Instagram pages. Those are governed by the privacy policies of the companies that run them. See section 6.

3. Information we collect

This policy explains what happens to information you give us through this website: the contact form, the online booking link, and the data your browser sends automatically when you visit.

3.1 Information you give us directly

When you fill in the contact form on this website, we collect what you type into it:

• Your name
• Your phone number and email address
• Your preferred method and time of contact, and preferred language
• Whether you are a new or existing patient
• The general reason for your enquiry — for example "dental implants" or "insurance question"
• Anything else you choose to write in the message field

We ask you not to put detailed medical information, symptoms, diagnoses or records into the contact form. A standard website form is not a secure channel, and we take your full history at your appointment instead.

3.2 Information collected automatically

Like most websites, this one records some technical information when you visit:

• Your IP address and approximate location derived from it
• Your browser type, operating system and device type
• The pages you viewed, how long you spent on them and which page you arrived from
• The date and time of your visit

This is collected through our web host's server logs and through the analytics and cookie technologies described in section 5.

3.3 Information from other sources

If you book through our online scheduling system, or interact with our pages on Facebook, Instagram or Google, we may receive information from those platforms. If you are an existing patient, we may already hold information you gave us at the practice — that information is governed by our Notice of Privacy Practices rather than this policy.

4. How we use information

We use the information described above to:

• Reply to your enquiry and arrange an appointment
• Verify your dental insurance benefits before your visit, where you have asked us to
• Send appointment confirmations, reminders and follow-ups
• Answer questions about treatment, costs, insurance and our membership plan
• Keep the website working, secure and free of spam submissions
• Understand which pages people find useful, so we can improve them
• Meet our legal, regulatory and professional obligations

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

5. Cookies and tracking technologies

Cookies are small files a website stores on your device. This site uses them for a few different purposes:

You can manage cookies through your browser settings, and through the cookie banner when it appears. Blocking analytics and advertising cookies will not stop you using this website or booking an appointment.

6. Third-party services we use

Some parts of this website are provided by other companies. When you use them, their own privacy policies apply alongside this one:

• Online booking — our appointment scheduling is handled by a third-party booking platform. Information you enter into the booking system goes to that provider, not through this website's contact form.

• Google Maps — the map on our contact page is embedded from Google, which may set cookies and receive your IP address when it loads.
• YouTube — our practice video is hosted on YouTube. It loads only after you click play, so nothing is sent to YouTube until you choose to watch it.
• Facebook and Instagram — we link to our pages on both. We do not control what Meta collects when you visit them.
• Website hosting — our host stores this website's files and keeps server logs.

• Form delivery and spam filtering — The contact form is processed by a plugin and, where enabled, a spam-protection service.

7. How we share information

We share your information only in these circumstances:

• With our team, so that whoever is best placed to help can reply to you .
• With service providers who operate parts of our website or practice systems on our behalf, and who are only permitted to use the information to provide that service .
•With your dental insurer, where you have asked us to verify your benefits.
• Where the law requires it, including in response to a valid legal request, or to protect the rights, safety or property of our patients, our team or the public.
• If the practice is sold or transferred, as part of that transaction, subject to the same protections

We do not sell personal information, and we have not sold or shared personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising in the preceding twelve months.

8. Health information and HIPAA

Fine Dental Care is a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Protected health information we hold about you as a patient is subject to HIPAA and to our Notice of Privacy Practices, which sets out your rights to access, amend and restrict that information and how to make a complaint.

Information you send through this website's contact form is not transmitted over a HIPAA-secured channel. That is why we ask you to keep the form general and save clinical detail for your appointment, a phone call or the patient forms you complete at the practice. If you do send health information through the form anyway, we will treat it with the same care as any other patient information once we receive it — but we cannot guarantee the security of its transmission.

9. Phone calls, text messages and email

When you give us your phone number, you agree that we may contact you about your enquiry and your appointments by phone and by text message. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to any text to opt out of further texts, or HELP for assistance. Opting out of texts does not stop us from calling you about a booked appointment.

We use text messages for practical things like appointment confirmations, reminders and changes.

Email is not a secure medium. Please do not email clinical details, insurance documents or identification.

10. How we protect information

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect the information we hold, including encrypted connections on this website, access controls on our systems and staff training on privacy obligations.

No method of transmitting information over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a breach affecting your personal information, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by Texas and federal law.

11. How long we keep information

Contact form submissions are kept for as long as needed to deal with your enquiry and for a reasonable period afterwards, then deleted.

Patient dental records are kept for the period required by Texas State Board of Dental Examiners rules and other applicable law, which is longer. Server logs and analytics data are kept according to the retention settings of the services described in sections 5 and 6.

12. Your privacy rights

12.1 Texas residents

Under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, Texas residents may have the right to confirm whether we process their personal data, to access it, to correct inaccuracies, to request deletion, to obtain a portable copy, and to opt out of targeted advertising, sale of personal data or certain profiling.

To make a request, contact us using the details in section 17. We will verify your identity before acting, and respond within the timeframe the law allows. If we decline your request you may appeal, and if the appeal is denied you may complain to the Texas Attorney General.

Note that information governed by HIPAA is generally excluded from this Act and is handled instead under our Notice of Privacy Practices.

12.2 Residents of other states

If you live in a state with its own privacy legislation - California, Colorado, Virginia and others - you may have comparable rights. Contact us and we will honour any request we are legally required to honour, regardless of where you live.

12.3 How to make a request

Call (281) 809-3595 or email finedentalcarec@gmail.com with "Privacy request" in the subject line. We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights.

13. Children's privacy

This website is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information online from children under 13. Parents and guardians book appointments and provide information on behalf of their children, and any information a parent gives us about a child patient is handled under our Notice of Privacy Practices. If you believe a child has submitted information through this website, contact us and we will delete it.

14. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Some browsers send a "Do Not Track" signal or a Global Privacy Control signal. There is no common industry standard for responding to Do Not Track.

15. Links to other websites

This website links to other sites, including our online booking system, Google Maps and our social media pages. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those sites. Read their privacy policies before giving them your information.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in the law. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Material changes will be flagged more prominently. Continuing to use this website after a change means you accept the updated policy.

17. How to contact us

For any question about this policy, or to exercise the rights described in section 12: