Privacy policy
How Patterson Lakes Dental Group collects, uses, stores and shares your personal and health information.
PLDG Pty Ltd, trading as Patterson Lakes Dental Group, is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains how we handle personal information, including health information, under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles and the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic).
What we collect
To provide dental care, we collect information such as:
- your name, date of birth, address, phone number and email
- your Medicare, Department of Veterans’ Affairs and health fund details
- your medical and dental history, medications and allergies
- x-rays, photographs, treatment notes and test results
- payment and billing details
You can stay anonymous or use another name when making a general enquiry, but we need to identify you to provide treatment or process claims.
How we collect it
We usually collect information from you directly, when you fill in a form, call us or come to an appointment. With your consent, or where the law allows, we may also collect it from other people, such as a parent or guardian, your doctor, or another dentist or specialist involved in your care.
Our website does not ask for personal information. Pages with a map load it from Google, which handles that data under its own privacy policy.
How we use it
- to assess, diagnose and treat you, and to keep accurate records
- to contact you about appointments, recalls and your care
- to bill you and to process claims with Medicare, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and health funds
- to meet our legal and professional obligations
- to send practice news, if you agree. You can opt out at any time, and every message includes a way to unsubscribe.
Who we share it with
We only share your information when it is needed for your care or the law allows it, for example with:
- other health practitioners involved in your care, such as a specialist, your doctor, or a dental laboratory making a crown or denture
- Medicare, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and your health fund, to process claims
- the providers of our practice software and IT services, who must keep it confidential
- others when the law requires or allows it
We do not sell your information. We do not usually send personal information overseas. If a service provider we use stores information outside Australia, we take reasonable steps to make sure it is protected to Australian standards.
How we store and protect it
We keep records electronically in our practice management system, and on paper where needed. Only people who need the information for their work can see it, and we protect it with passwords, access controls and secure backups.
As Victorian law requires, we keep health records for at least 7 years after your last visit, or for a child, until they turn 25. After that, we destroy or de-identify them securely.
Seeing and correcting your information
You can ask to see or get a copy of the information we hold about you, and ask us to correct anything that is wrong. Contact us using the details below and we will respond within 30 days. There is no charge to ask. We may charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of copies, and will tell you before we do. If the law lets us refuse access in a particular case, we will explain why in writing.
Questions and complaints
If you have a question or concern about how we have handled your information, please contact our Privacy Officer. We will respond within 30 days.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner or the Health Complaints Commissioner (Victoria).
Contact us
Privacy Officer, Patterson Lakes Dental Group
Shop 2, Harbour Plaza, 21 Thompson Road, Patterson Lakes VIC 3197
Phone (03) 9773 4044
Last updated 21 October 2026.