Complaints Policy

How to make a complaint

We want to hear from you if something went wrong. You can complain in whichever way is easiest for you:

• Use our online complaint form at toothaid.co/complaints. This is the quickest route, and you can follow its progress from your account.
• Email us at info@toothaid.co and put the word "complaint" in the subject line.
• Write to us at Toothaid Ltd, 28 Cavendish Drive, Edgware, HA8 7NS.

There is no charge for making a complaint, and you do not need to use a particular form or wording. If you would like help writing your complaint, or would prefer it in another format or language, tell us and we will help.

Complaining does not affect your right to use the Dental Complaints Service or any other service listed below.

If someone is in immediate danger

A complaint is not an emergency service. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999. For urgent dental problems out of hours, call NHS 111.

If your concern is about a clinician's conduct

You can raise it with us, and you can also contact the General Dental Council directly, as the regulator for dental professionals.

What happens after you complain

1. We acknowledge your complaint in writing within 3 working days of receiving it.

2. We aim to give you a full written answer within 20 working days. If your complaint is complicated and we need longer, we will tell you why and give you a new date rather than leaving you waiting.

3. Someone independent of the matter reviews it. Complaints about clinical care are reviewed by our registered manager, Dr Benjamin A Pearlman (GDC 291062). Complaints about your personal information are handled by our data protection officer, Junaid Patel (dpo@toothaid.co).

4. We may need to ask your permission before contacting the dentist or dental practice involved, and we only ever share the parts of your complaint that are needed to look into it.

5. We tell you the outcome in writing, and if we uphold your complaint, what we are going to do about it — for example an apology, a refund, a further consultation, or a change to how we work.

You can check where your complaint has reached at any time from your ToothAid account.

If you are not happy with our answer

If you are dissatisfied with how we handled your complaint, or with our answer, you can ask an independent service to look at it:

• Dental Complaints Service — a free, impartial service funded by the General Dental Council. 37 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 8DQ. Telephone 020 8253 0800 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). Online form: contactus.gdc-uk.org/dcs/Complaint/PrivatePatients
• General Dental Council — where your concern is about a clinician's fitness to practise.
• Information Commissioner's Office — where your concern is about how we handled your personal information. ico.org.uk, telephone 0303 123 1113.

If you contact one of these services, please tell us as well so that we can send them our file.

Complaints about a practice you were referred to

If you were referred to a dental practice for face-to-face assessment or treatment, that practice is responsible for the care it gives you and should be given the chance to put things right first. You can complain to the practice directly, and with your permission we will pass your complaint on to them. If you are still unhappy, you can still use the Dental Complaints Service.

How we keep records of complaints

Every complaint is recorded in our complaints log with the date it was received, the date it was acknowledged, the date we answered, the outcome, what we did to put things right and whether it was passed to another organisation. We keep these records for 6 years from the date the complaint was resolved.

We review complaints regularly as part of our clinical governance and quality monitoring, so that repeated problems are fixed rather than simply answered. We will not publish anything that identifies you.

Your complaint is personal information, and our privacy notice explains how we handle it, including your right to ask for a copy of the record we hold about you.

How we handle complaints from or about children and vulnerable adults

If a complaint concerns a child or an adult at risk, we handle it sensitively and, where a safeguarding concern is raised, our safeguarding lead (Dr Benjamin A Pearlman) decides whether it needs to be passed to the local authority. You can find out more on our regulatory information page.

This policy was last updated on 7 October 2026 and is reviewed at least once a year.