Privacy Policy

Who Fredal Orthodontics Is

Fredal Orthodontics (the "practice") operates the website at fredalortho.com and provides orthodontic services at 7827 25 Mile Rd, Shelby Township, MI 48316. This policy explains how the practice collects, uses, stores and protects information when people visit the website or receive care at the office.

Information the Practice Collects

Information you give the practice. When a patient schedules an appointment, fills out patient forms, sends a request through the website, chats or texts with the office, or calls, the practice may receive their name, email address, phone number, mailing address, date of birth, insurance information and health history.

Patient intake forms collect the health information orthodontic treatment needs, including dental history, medical conditions, medications and allergies.

Information the website collects. Like any website, the site’s server receives each visitor’s IP address and browser details in order to send the page. Measurement and advertising tools run only after a visitor accepts them in the cookie banner; until then they receive nothing. The Cookie Policy lists every cookie and similar storage the site uses, what each does and how long it lasts.

How the Website Handles Information

Your choice comes first. On a first visit a banner asks whether the site may use analytics and advertising tools, with Accept and Reject side by side. Nothing optional runs until one is pressed. A browser that sends a Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal is treated as a refusal. The answer, and when it was given, is kept so the practice can show what was chosen. The Your Privacy Choices page shows the current choice and changes it at any time.

Analytics and advertising, after Accept. Google Analytics counts visits and shows which pages are read. Google Ads conversion measurement records when a visit that began with a Google advertisement leads to a call tap, a scheduling or chat button, or a consultation request. The practice has turned off Google’s ad personalization, so the site does not build remarketing lists. No health information is sent to Google. The website’s own site insights, run by Orthodynamo for the practice, counts which links and buttons are clicked, how far pages are scrolled, how fast they load and whether a form that was started was sent, kept only as totals with no IP address, identifier or anything typed.

Contact form. A request sent through the contact form is emailed to the office and kept on the website as a form entry for 90 days, so a request is not lost if an email fails, then deleted.

Chat. The chat on the website is provided by Podium, a messaging service. It loads only when a visitor chooses to chat, and anything typed into it goes to Podium and to the office. A visitor who prefers not to use it can call or text the office instead.

Online booking. The free consultation page offers online booking from Ortho 2 Edge, the practice’s scheduling software. It loads only when a visitor presses "Open booking". Details entered there go to Ortho 2 Edge and to the office to book the appointment. The booking page also uses Google Maps to suggest addresses and a Cloudflare check that a person is booking. A visitor who prefers not to use it can call or text the office instead.

Cost calculator. The braces and Invisalign cost calculator works on the website itself and needs no personal details to show an estimate. A visitor who asks the practice to follow up sends their estimate and contact details to the office by email; the website keeps no copy.

Reviews and maps. Patient reviews come from Google; their reviewers’ profile pictures are served by Orthodynamo, the company that builds and maintains this website, which receives the visitor’s IP address when a picture loads. Maps on the site are pictures, so nothing loads from Google until a visitor taps a directions link.

How the Practice Uses Information

Fredal Orthodontics uses the information it collects to schedule and confirm appointments, provide orthodontic treatment, process insurance claims and payments, send appointment reminders by text or email, answer questions and requests, improve the website and its services, and meet legal and regulatory requirements.

The practice does not sell personal information and does not share it with third parties for their own marketing.

Protected Health Information (HIPAA)

As a healthcare provider, Fredal Orthodontics is subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Protected health information (PHI), which includes medical records, treatment plans, diagnostic images (including CBCT scans) and insurance information, is handled under HIPAA’s Privacy Rule and Security Rule. Patients can ask for a copy of the full HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices at any time by calling (586) 544-4440 or at the front desk.

The practice may use and disclose PHI without a patient’s authorization for treatment (sharing records with a referring dentist or oral surgeon the patient is seeing), payment (submitting claims to the insurance company) and healthcare operations (quality improvement, staff training).

All other uses and disclosures of PHI require the patient’s written authorization, which the patient may revoke at any time.

Services That Process Information for the Practice

• Ortho 2 Edge: practice management and appointment scheduling. It holds patient records, appointments and billing information.
• Weave: for patients in the remote monitoring program, Weave processes their photos and treatment data under its own HIPAA-compliant privacy policy.
• Podium: the website chat and text messaging with the office.
• Google Analytics and Google Ads: website measurement, only after a visitor accepts it.
• Orthodynamo: builds, hosts and maintains the website, including its contact form, cost calculator, reviews and site insights (page-use totals, only after a visitor accepts them).

Data Security

Fredal Orthodontics uses administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect patient information. The website encrypts every connection (HTTPS). Patient records are kept in HIPAA-compliant systems with role-based access.

No system is perfectly secure, but the practice takes reasonable measures to protect patient information.

Your Rights

Patients can ask to see their personal information and records, have inaccurate information corrected, have personal information deleted (subject to the record-keeping Michigan law requires), opt out of marketing messages at any time, and receive a copy of the HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices.

To make any of these requests, or a request about information the website collected, email info@fredalortho.com, call (586) 544-4440 or use the contact page. Website requests are answered within 45 days, and no account is needed. The consent ID on the Your Privacy Choices page identifies the choice made in a browser.

Children’s Privacy

Fredal Orthodontics treats patients from age 7. When a patient is under 18, a parent or legal guardian consents to treatment and signs all intake forms. The practice does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through the website without a parent’s consent.

Parents who believe information was collected from a child under 13 by mistake should contact the practice so it can be deleted.

Changes to This Policy

Fredal Orthodontics updates this policy when its practices or the website’s services change. The date at the top shows the latest version. When a change affects what the website asks consent for, the cookie banner asks again.

Contact Fredal Orthodontics

Fredal Orthodontics
7827 25 Mile Rd, Shelby Township, MI 48316
(586) 544-4440
info@fredalortho.com
Contact form