Omega Dental Specialists ("we", "us", or "our") respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect through our website, how we use it, and your rights regarding that information. This policy applies only to information collected through omegadentists.com. Information you provide as a patient at our practice is governed by our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices, which you receive at your first visit and which is available on request.

1. Information We Collect

When you contact Omega Dental Specialists through this website, we collect:

  • Contact details you provide: name, phone, email, preferred appointment time, and the reason for your visit.
  • Insurance information you choose to share: insurance carrier name. We do not collect member IDs, group numbers, or any clinical details through this website.
  • Technical data automatically: IP address, browser and device information, referring URL, pages visited, and timestamps. We use this to operate the site and to detect abuse.

We do not knowingly collect any sensitive health information through this website. Please do not share specific diagnoses, treatment history, or other Protected Health Information (PHI) through the contact form or by email. Save those details for your appointment.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information you provide only to:

  • Respond to your appointment request.
  • Contact you about your care or your inquiry.
  • Verify general insurance acceptance (in-network or not) before your visit.
  • Improve the website (aggregate usage analytics only).

We do not sell or rent your personal information. We do not use your personal information for marketing campaigns without your explicit prior consent.

3. Protected Health Information (HIPAA)

Once you become a patient, any information about your health, treatment, or payment for treatment is Protected Health Information (PHI) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). PHI is governed by our Notice of Privacy Practices, available at the practice or by calling (713) 322-7474.

Information you submit through this website's contact form is treated as confidential and is transmitted over an encrypted connection. We instruct our staff and any business associates handling this data to do the same. If you choose to share clinical details in the form (we recommend you do not), we treat them as confidential and only use them for your care.

4. Text Message (SMS) Communications

If you opt in to receive text messages, we use SMS only to confirm or remind you of appointments and respond to your messages. Standard message and data rates may apply. You can opt out at any time by replying STOP, or by calling us at (713) 322-7474. We do not send marketing SMS without your separate written consent. We do not discuss specific health information by SMS.

5. Cookies and Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand aggregate visitor behavior. Our configuration is set up to protect your privacy:

  • IP anonymization is on - the last octet of your IP address is truncated before it is stored.
  • No advertising signals. We have disabled Google Signals, ad personalization, and ad storage. Your visit data is never joined to Google's advertising graph.
  • No PII in events. The custom events we send to GA never include your name, email, phone number, member ID, date of birth, or anything you typed into a form. Conversion events carry only the requested specialty (e.g. "implants") and campaign source from the URL.
  • Single cookie. GA4 sets one cookie (_ga) to recognize repeat visits in aggregate. It is first-party, expires in 2 years, and contains no personal information.

You can opt out of all GA tracking by installing the official Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, or by enabling Do Not Track in your browser settings. We also do not use cross-site advertising trackers like Facebook Pixel or any retargeting services.

6. Third-Party Services

Our website uses third-party services that may receive information you submit:

  • Vercel hosts the website and may log basic request metadata (IP, request path).
  • Google Fonts and CDN providers deliver fonts and icons. They may log IP addresses as part of normal CDN operation.
  • Google Maps loads only when you click the "Load Map" button on the contact page. If you click it, Google may collect technical data about your visit.
  • Our practice management system (PMS) receives lead form submissions so our front desk can follow up. Our PMS provider has signed a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA) where applicable.

Each third party is bound by its own privacy policy. We minimize the data sent to each one and require BAAs for any vendor that may receive PHI.

7. Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Request a copy of the information we hold about you.
  • Ask us to correct inaccurate information.
  • Ask us to delete your information, subject to legal retention requirements for medical records (typically 7+ years under Texas law).
  • Withdraw consent for marketing communications at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, call (713) 322-7474 or write to the address below. We respond within 30 days.

8. California Residents (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act gives you additional rights, including the right to know what personal information we have collected about you, the right to request deletion, and the right to opt out of any sale of personal information (we do not sell personal information). To make a CCPA request, contact us as described in Section 11.

9. Children's Privacy

This website is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If a parent or guardian is contacting us on behalf of a minor patient, we treat the information with the same protections as any other patient inquiry. If you believe we have inadvertently collected a child's information, contact us and we will delete it.

10. Security

We use industry-standard security measures to protect your information, including HTTPS encryption for everything submitted through this site, strict access controls, and a Content Security Policy that limits where browser code can run. We review our security practices regularly. No system is perfect, but we take reasonable steps to safeguard your data.

11. Changes and Contact

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision. If we make material changes, we will note that here and on the homepage briefly.

Questions about this Privacy Policy or our information practices? Call (713) 322-7474 or write to:

Omega Dental Specialists
Attn: Privacy
106 W Gray St
Houston, TX 77019