‘That sounds good, can you send me some pictures?’

Friends and relatives may ask a dental nurse for verbal or written/pictorial information about dental treatment. However, the ease of sharing information and the use of social media can potentially create problems, particularly of confidentiality, that may not necessarily have arisen even a few years ago. The following case demonstrates the pitfalls and how to avoid them.

A dental nurse arranged for her husband to see the dentist who she worked with. He was unhappy about the shape of his upper and lower front teeth. They were very irregular. The possible treatment options were discussed with his treating dentist, who the nurse worked with, and it was agreed to provide fixed orthodontic treatment. The treatment was successful and the patient was very happy with the results. Photographs of the teeth before and after treatment were taken and included in the records. The nurse subsequently mentioned the treatment to a friend who said that she would be interested in something similar herself and could the nurse provide her with some information. The nurse therefore took a copy of the digital photographs from the records, without telling the dentist or her husband, and emailed them to her friend. The friend decided not to have treatment but put the photographs on a social networking site saying how ‘good looking’ her friend's husband now was, compared to previously. Shortly afterwards, the marriage between the nurse and her husband unfortunately broke down, and they divorced. He was then made aware that his clinical photographs were on a social networking site and that as they were full-face views he could be identified. He was angry about this and complained to the nurse's practice.