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Privacy Policy

Aesthetic Dental Institute
Effective date: 3 November 2026

1. About this policy

Aesthetic Dental Institute (“ADI”, “we”, “us”) respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we look after it, and the rights you have over it.

It applies to:

  • our patients and their parents or guardians
  • visitors to our website
  • people who contact us through social media or respond to our advertising
  • people who apply to work with us

We process personal information in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA), the National Health Act 61 of 2003, and the ethical rules of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).

For the purposes of POPIA, the responsible party is:

Name Vevasen Naidoo trading as Aesthetic Dental Institute
Practice number 771120
Address Suite 2, Meyrickton Business Park, Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal
Telephone 067 265 0148
Email info@aestheticdentalinstitute.co.za
Website https://aestheticdentalinstitute.co.za/

2. The information we collect

If you are a patient

  • Identity and contact details: your name, ID or passport number, date of birth, address, telephone number and email address.
  • Next of kin and emergency contact details.
  • Medical aid details: scheme, plan, membership number and main member.
  • Account and payment information.
  • Health information:
    • medical and dental history, medication and allergies
    • clinical notes and treatment plans
    • X-rays, 3D CBCT scans, intraoral scans and digital smile designs
    • clinical photographs and videos
  • For children: the details of a parent or legal guardian who consents on the child’s behalf.

If you visit our website

  • Anything you submit through a contact or booking form.
  • Technical information collected by cookies and similar tools: your device and browser type, IP address, the pages you visit and how you reached us (see section 8).

If you contact us on social media or respond to our advertising

  • Your name, profile details, messages and any information you submit through a Meta (Facebook or Instagram) lead form.

If you apply for a job with us

  • Your name and contact details.
  • Your HPCSA registration number.
  • Your qualifications, work experience and availability, and your CV.
  • Anything else you choose to send with your application.

3. Why we use your information

We only collect what we need, and we use it for the purpose it was collected for:

  • To provide dental care: assessing, diagnosing, planning and treating, and keeping accurate clinical records.
  • To run the practice: booking and reminding you of appointments, billing you or your medical aid, and answering your questions.
  • To meet our legal and professional duties: the record-keeping, reporting and infection-control obligations that apply to health practitioners.
  • To improve our services: understanding how people find and use our website and social media pages.
  • To send you information you have asked for: see section 9 on direct marketing.
  • To recruit staff: assessing applications for positions at the practice (see section 10).

Our legal grounds for doing so are one or more of the following:

  • your consent
  • the need to carry out the agreement between us, such as providing treatment
  • compliance with the law
  • our legitimate interests in running a safe and effective practice

4. Health information and children

Health information is special personal information under POPIA, and we treat it with particular care. As a healthcare provider, we may process it where it is necessary for your treatment and care, under the protection of patient confidentiality. Only the clinical and administrative team members who need it to care for you can access it.

We treat patients under 18 with the consent of a parent or legal guardian. That person may access and act on the child’s information on their behalf, within the limits of the law.

5. Clinical photographs and social media

Clinical photographs and scans are part of your patient record and are used to plan and document your treatment.

We will never publish an image or video in which you can be identified, or describe your treatment publicly, without your separate written consent. This applies to our website, social media and advertising. You may withdraw that consent at any time, and we will remove the content from our own channels as soon as reasonably possible.

6. Who we share it with

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information. We share it only when it is needed for the purposes in section 3, and only with:

  • your medical aid scheme, to process claims and authorisations
  • dental laboratories, radiology services, specialists or other healthcare providers involved in your care, with your knowledge
  • service providers who support the practice, such as our practice management software, IT, cloud storage, email and website providers. They may only use your information on our instructions and must keep it secure.
  • advertising and analytics providers, such as Meta and Google, limited to the website and advertising information described in section 8
  • regulators, courts, or other authorities, where the law requires it

7. Information stored outside South Africa

Some of our service providers, including cloud software, Meta and Google, store or process information on servers outside South Africa. We only use providers that are subject to data protection laws, binding agreements or rules that give a level of protection substantially similar to POPIA, as section 72 of POPIA requires.

8. Cookies, analytics and advertising

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. We use them to make the site work, to understand how visitors use it, and to measure and improve our advertising. These may include:

  • Google Analytics
  • Google Ads conversion tracking
  • the Meta Pixel

These tools collect technical information, not your health information.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, and you can manage your ad preferences in your Google and Meta account settings. Blocking some cookies may affect how the website works.

9. Direct marketing

We will only send you newsletters, oral health information or news about our services if you have agreed to receive them, or if you are an existing patient and the information relates to similar services. Every message gives you a way to opt out, free of charge.

Appointment reminders and messages about your treatment are part of your care, not marketing.

10. Job applicants

When you apply for a position, through our website, by email or through a Facebook or Instagram lead form, we use your information only to assess your application and contact you about it. We may verify your HPCSA registration on the public register.

If your application is unsuccessful, we will delete your information within 12 months of the position being filled, unless you agree that we may keep it on file for future vacancies.

11. How we protect your information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure. These include:

  • access controls and password-protected systems
  • secure storage of physical records
  • staff confidentiality obligations
  • vetting the service providers we use

If we have reason to believe your personal information has been accessed without authorisation, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

12. How long we keep it

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it, or as long as the law requires.

  • Patient records: we keep these for at least six years after your last visit, in line with HPCSA guidance. Records of children are kept at least until their 21st birthday, and longer where the law or your ongoing care requires it.
  • Other information, such as enquiries and job applications: we delete or destroy it once it is no longer needed.

13. Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

  • ask whether we hold personal information about you, and request a copy of it
  • ask us to correct or update information that is inaccurate or incomplete
  • ask us to delete information we are no longer entitled to keep. Health records we are legally required to retain cannot be deleted before the retention period ends.
  • object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time
  • withdraw consent you have given, without affecting processing that took place before you withdrew it
  • lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Information Officer (section 14). We may need to confirm your identity first.

Requests for access to records are dealt with in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA). Our PAIA manual is available on request.

14. Contact our Information Officer

Information Officer Vevasen Naidoo
Email info@aestheticdentalinstitute.co.za
Telephone 031 765-3060
Address Suite 2, Meyrickton Business Park, Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal

15. Complaints

If you are concerned about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first so that we can try to resolve it.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa):

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be on our website, with its effective date at the top.