Privacy Policy

Last updated: 26 September 2026

Who we are

Our website address is https://ursmile.co.uk. U’R Smile Dental & Aesthetic Clinic (“U’R Smile Dental Practice”, “we”, “us”), 258 Kentwood Hill, Tilehurst, Reading RG31 6DR, is a dental practice regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), registration number ZB072439. We keep and uphold a strict data protection and information governance policy for all information we collect.

We are the controller of your personal information. Our primary contact is S R Khattak, on 0118 327 4355 or contact@ursmile.co.uk. Our Data Protection Officer is Dr U Khattak.

Definitions

Data Controller means the person or organisation that decides why and how personal information is processed.
Data Processor means anyone who processes personal data on behalf of the Data Controller.
Data Subject means any living individual whose personal data we hold.
UK GDPR means the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Our principles

Fair and lawful. We protect the rights of individuals and collect and use personal data lawfully and fairly.
Specific purpose. We use personal data only for specific, stated purposes.
Transparent. We tell you how your data is collected, used and shared.

What we collect

Patients: first and last name, address (including town and postcode), date of birth, email address, phone number, medical and dental history, examinations, treatment, X-rays and photographs, appointment and treatment records, payments and correspondence.
Website visitors: IP address, browser and device details, cookies, and anything you send us through a form or comment.
Enquiries and messages: your name, contact details and what you tell us by email, phone, text or WhatsApp.

We only collect information that is necessary to provide dental care and services, manage appointments and patient records, and meet legal and regulatory obligations.

Special category (health) data

As a dental practice we process health-related information, which is sensitive personal data. We do this only with your explicit consent, or where it is required for healthcare provision or legal compliance.

How we use your information and our legal basis

To provide safe and effective dental treatment and manage patient records and clinical history: contract, and health-care provision (UK GDPR Articles 6(1)(b) and 9(2)(h)).
To meet legal, regulatory and insurance requirements, including CQC and GDC requirements: legal obligation.
To communicate with you about appointments and care, respond to enquiries or complaints, provide customer support, detect and prevent technical issues, and improve our services and website: legitimate interests.
To notify you about changes to our services, and to send marketing: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

Messaging: email, text and WhatsApp

We may contact you by email, text or WhatsApp about appointments and your care. WhatsApp messages are delivered through WhatsApp (Meta), which processes your phone number and message details for us. Please do not send confidential health information by WhatsApp; call us or use our secure channels instead. Tell us at any time if you prefer not to be messaged this way.

Who we share your data with

Only where necessary and in line with UK GDPR:

Dental laboratories and referring or specialist clinicians.
Regulatory bodies such as the GDC, and the NHS where applicable.
Insurance and finance providers you use.
IT and service providers that process data for us under written agreements, such as website, email and secure cloud hosting and practice management software.
WhatsApp (Meta), for messaging, as described above.
Google, for website analytics (see Cookie Policy below), and for advertising services as described next.

We never sell your data. If you request a password reset on our website, your IP address is included in the reset email. Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Our privacy policy discloses that we share website customer data with third parties for Google advertising services on our behalf, and we obtain consent for such sharing under the applicable Google policies governing personalised ads and user consent, including Google’s EU user consent policy. These data files are used only to match customers to Google accounts and to ensure Customer Match campaigns comply with Google’s policies. To comply with the UK GDPR, we rely on the Google Ads Data Processing Terms that apply to Customer Match in the Google Ads terms of service. Under these terms, Google acts as a “processor” of the personal data shared with Google for Customer Match.

Artificial intelligence

We use AI tools to help with administrative work, such as drafting and organising tasks. We do not put patient clinical records or identifiable patient information into general-purpose AI tools. Any AI feature that would handle personal data is assessed first and covered by a data processing agreement. A person always makes decisions about your care.

Transfers outside the UK

Some providers, such as Google and Meta, may process data outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on safeguards approved under UK data protection law.

How long we keep your data

Dental records are kept for at least 11 years, and for children until they reach age 25 if that is longer.
Enquiry records are kept for up to 2 years, and messaging delivery records for 12 months. After that we securely delete or anonymise them.
If you leave a comment on our website, the comment and its metadata are kept indefinitely, so that we can recognise and approve follow-up comments automatically.
For users who register on our website (if any), we store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit or delete their personal information at any time (except their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
We otherwise keep personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this policy, to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our policies.

Data security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data from unauthorised access, loss or misuse.

Your rights

Whether or not you live in the UK or European Economic Area, you have the right to:

Access, update or delete the information we hold about you (deletion where legally permitted; some clinical records must be kept by law).
Have inaccurate data corrected (rectification).
Object to, or ask us to restrict, how we use your data.
Receive your data in a portable format.
Withdraw consent at any time.

If you have an account on this website or have left comments, you can also ask for an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, or ask us to erase it. This does not include data we must keep for administrative, legal or security purposes.

To exercise your rights, contact contact@ursmile.co.uk. We will reply within one month.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, please tell us first so we can put things right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

Our website: comments, images and embedded content

Comments. When visitors leave comments we collect the data shown in the comments form, plus the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help detect spam. An anonymised string created from your email address (a hash) may be sent to the Gravatar service to check whether you use it. The Gravatar privacy policy is at https://automattic.com/privacy/. After your comment is approved, your profile picture is visible to the public alongside it.

Images. If you upload images to the website, please avoid images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors can download images and extract any location data they contain.

Embedded content. Articles on this site may include embedded content such as videos, images or articles from other websites. It behaves exactly as if you had visited the other website. Those sites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed further third-party tracking and monitor your interaction with the content, including if you have an account and are logged in there.

Our staff

Staff are given a separate notice explaining how we use their information, including any work reminders sent to their phones.

Cookie Policy

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files saved on your device when you use a web browser. Some are essential for the site to work; others collect data about how you use it, which we use to improve your experience.

How long our cookies last

If you leave a comment, you may choose to save your name, email address and website in cookies for convenience. These last one year.
If you visit our login page, we set a temporary cookie to check that your browser accepts cookies. It contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we set cookies to save your login and screen display choices. Login cookies last two days, and screen options cookies last one year. If you choose “Remember Me”, your login lasts two weeks. Logging out removes the login cookies.
If you edit or publish an article, an extra cookie records the post ID. It contains no personal data and expires after one day.

Types of cookies we use

Essential cookies make the site work and keep it secure, for example letting you log in safely.
Functional cookies remember your preferences, such as text size.
Performance / analytics cookies help us understand how the site is used, for example which pages are most popular, so we can improve it. We use Google Analytics, which collects anonymised data such as pages visited, time spent on the site, and device and browser type.
Marketing cookies are used to deliver advertising through Google, and only with your consent.

Managing cookies

You control how we use cookies on each device and browser you use, through our cookie settings on this site and through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect how the site works. For help, see your browser’s help pages (Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge).

WEBSITE TERMS & CONDITIONS

Welcome to the U’R Smile Dental Practice website (“our website”). By accessing or using this website, you agree to be bound by these Terms & Conditions. If you do not agree, please do not use our website.

About Us
U’R Smile Dental Practice (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates this website. The term “you” refers to any user or visitor.

Use of Website

The content on this website is provided for general information only and may be updated without notice.
We aim to ensure accuracy, but we do not guarantee that all content is complete, current, or error-free.
Information on this website does not constitute dental or medical advice. Please contact us directly for personalised clinical advice.

Cookies

This website uses cookies to improve user experience and monitor website performance.
By using our website, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.

Liability

Your use of any information on this website is entirely at your own risk.
We shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising from reliance on website content, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Intellectual Property

All content, including design, text, images, and graphics, is owned by or licensed to U’R Smile Dental Practice.
Reproduction is prohibited without prior written permission.

External Links

Our website may include links to third-party websites.
These links are provided for convenience only; we do not endorse or accept responsibility for their content.

Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.
Any disputes will be subject to the jurisdiction of UK courts.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this policy or how your data is handled, contact U’R Smile Dental Practice: https://ursmile.co.uk/ · contact@ursmile.co.uk · 0118 327 4355.