AI data leakage in dental practices: what leaves when patient records go into ChatGPT or Claude.

A dental practice holds a patient’s medical history, medications, anxieties, X-rays, money worries and family contacts, often for decades. Under the Privacy Act a business that provides a health service and holds health information is covered whatever its turnover, and the OAIC lists a dentist among its examples. In NSW the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 adds its own principles, and the Dental Board’s Code of conduct asks practitioners to hold health records securely, keep patient information confidential and obtain informed financial consent. This series takes ten documents a dental practice produces every week, marks every item those obligations reach, and shows where each one goes when the document is pasted into ChatGPT or Claude. Each page ends with the same document on Ermos, inside the practice.

The documents, one at a time

AgreementThe treatment plan and quote

Findings tooth by tooth, medical alerts, every fee, the fund rebate and a patient’s money worries. The document the patient signs.

See what leaves → NotesThe clinical notes

Medication, a panic attack, night shifts, alcohol, the options discussed and what the dentist really thinks. Written for the file.

See what leaves → FormThe new patient health history form

Identity, Medicare and fund numbers, pregnancy, medications, mental health and lifestyle. A patient’s whole health picture on one page.

See what leaves → LetterThe specialist referral letter

The history of a failing tooth, diabetes and osteoporosis, enclosed X-rays and a patient who cannot afford an implant.

See what leaves → SpreadsheetThe recall list

Every overdue patient, their phone number, the treatment they still need and the notes staff added. A health record in table form.

See what leaves → EmailThe health fund claim email

Member numbers, the treatment and fee, two other patients, a patient’s plan to cancel and the practice’s bank details.

See what leaves → AgreementThe sedation consent form

Sleep apnoea, medications, alcohol, the escort, the risks and a signature. The consent for the highest-risk thing a dentist does.

See what leaves → Report or memoThe dental radiology report

A nerve at risk, an incidental finding near the neck and an accession number that opens the images. A report the patient has not heard yet.

See what leaves → Text or chat messageThe appointment texts and web chat

Appointment times, a spouse explaining a medication, a pregnancy, a card payment and a patient who is furious about a fee.

See what leaves → LetterThe patient complaint response

A patient’s complaint about a fee, her clinical background, her job loss, a staff member’s words and the practice’s offer.

See what leaves →

How the leakage happens

The mechanism is the same for every document. The whole text is transmitted to the provider’s servers. On personal plans the user cannot choose where it is stored or processed, and for the major providers that has generally meant outside Australia. On consumer tiers it can be retained and used to train future models. The provider’s staff and systems can reach it under the provider’s own policies. Once sent, the practice no longer controls it. Our on-premise vs cloud comparison sets out the four ways to run AI and where each one puts your documents.

The obligations in play

Each marked item on these pages links to the guide that covers its obligation:

The same documents on Ermos

Ermos Dominion drafts and searches on a unit in your office, so the documents never leave it. Ermos Edge keeps your documents on your own instance in an Australian data centre and sends only permitted excerpts, per question, to a named Australian provider. Every page in this series ends with both, item by item.

Common questions

Can dental practices use ChatGPT or Claude with patient information?
Not without meeting the practice's privacy duties, which still apply to every paste. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recommends in its guidance on commercially available AI products that organisations do not enter personal information, and particularly sensitive information, into publicly available generative AI tools, because of the significant and complex privacy risks. Health information is sensitive information under the Privacy Act, and a business that provides a health service and holds health information is generally covered whatever its turnover, with a dentist listed by the OAIC as an example. In NSW the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 adds its own principles, and Ahpra says the practitioner remains responsible and must apply human judgment to AI output.
Do ChatGPT and Claude train on what staff paste in?
It depends on the account each person is using. As at October 2026, whether a conversation on a personal plan (ChatGPT Free, Plus or Pro; Claude Free, Pro or Max) can be used to train the models depends on a setting each user controls. Business plans (ChatGPT Business and Enterprise, Claude Team and Enterprise) and the developer APIs sit under commercial terms, and OpenAI and Anthropic each say they do not train on that content by default (OpenAI, Anthropic). On either product, the thumbs up and thumbs down buttons can send a whole conversation back for training. For a dental practice the question matters because what staff paste is a patient's medical history, medications and fears, and Ahpra's guidance says practitioners should know whether patient data trains the model.
Do business plans such as ChatGPT Business or Claude Team solve the problem for dental practices?
Only in part. A business plan changes the default on training, but it does not change who receives the content. On a personal plan the user cannot choose where conversations are stored or processed. Some business plans let an organisation choose to store data at rest in Australia (OpenAI), which still leaves the content with the AI company. The OAIC's guidance also tells organisations to review carefully the terms and settings that will apply to their use of any AI product. A treatment plan or radiology report would still arrive at that AI company in full, and Ahpra's guidance says practitioners should know where patient data is held. Our comparisons with ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude weigh the trade-offs.
What is the safest way for a dental practice to use AI with patient records?
Ermos is built so the document stays under your control. On the Dominion AI unit it is drafted inside your office and none of it is sent to an AI provider. On Ermos Edge your documents and index stay on your own instance in an Australian data centre, and only the question and the excerpts the user is permitted to see go to a named Australian provider that is contractually barred from keeping them or training any model on them. For a dental practice, staying in control means patient records stay where the practice can hold them securely, as section 8.3 of the Dental Board's Code of conduct asks, and a dentist checks every draft.
What is AI data leakage in a dental practice?
Patient information leaving the practice's control through an AI tool. When a treatment plan, a note or a recall list is pasted into ChatGPT or Claude it is transmitted to the provider's servers, can be retained on the provider's terms, can be used to train future models on consumer tiers, and can be reached by the provider's staff and systems. What leaks is a patient's health, finances and family contacts.
Does the Privacy Act apply to a small dental practice?
Generally yes. A business that provides a health service to another individual and holds health information is covered by the Privacy Act whatever its annual turnover, so the $3 million small business exemption does not help it. The OAIC lists a dentist as an example of a health service provider. NSW practices are also subject to the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.
What do Ahpra and the Dental Board say about AI?
Ahpra's guidance on AI in healthcare says the practitioner remains responsible, must apply human judgment to AI output, should know whether patient data trains the model and where it is stored, and should obtain informed consent where an AI tool needs the patient's personal data. The Dental Board's Code of conduct, section 8.3, asks for health records to be held securely and free from unauthorised access.

See Dominion answering from your own documents.

A demonstration takes 30 minutes, uses no client data, and comes with no obligation.

Book a demo
Keep reading
AI for dental practices The Privacy Act, the APPs and AI All professions