Dentovio public answer
What are California dental records and confidentiality rules?
Inspection is due within 5 working days after the request and satisfactory verification; copies are due within 15 days after the request. An ordinary request need not be written. Unpaid balances do not justify withholding records, radiographs, summaries, or other lawful disclosures. Correct charts with transparent addenda instead of deletion, overwriting, or backdating.
- Last verified
- 2026-07-22
- Reviewer
- Mahtab Mansour, DDS, 2026-07-22
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Query patterns
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Source citations
- A8 Board consumer FAQs including records-access guidance (dbc.ca.gov, verified 2026-03-23)
- A9 HSC section 123110 patient inspection, copies, form/format, fees, and unpaid-balance rule (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, verified 2026-03-23)
- A10 HSC section 123145 — when a provider licensed under HSC sections 1205, 1253, 1575, or 1726 ceases operation, adult records must be preserved at least 7 years and unemancipated-minor records at least 1 year after age 18 and never less than 7 years; not a universal private-dental-office retention statute (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, verified 2026-07-14)
- A15 BPC sections 1680, 1684.1, 1684.5, and related enforcement and patient-of-record provisions; BPC §§1800-1808 (dental corporations); Corporations Code §13400 et seq. (Moscone-Knox) (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, verified 2026-07-14)
- A26 HSC sections 123111 and 123130 patient addendums and record summaries (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, verified 2026-03-23)
- A48 SB 446 and Civ. Code section 1798.82 California breach-notice update to a 30-calendar-day deadline effective 1/1/2026 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, verified 2026-03-24)
- A67 WIC section 14124.1 Medi-Cal (Denti-Cal) provider record retention, 10-year minimum from service, audit completion, or contract end, whichever is later (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, verified 2026-06-09)
- A68 HSC section 123115 limits on a minor's representative inspecting records and good-faith detrimental-effect denial standard (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, verified 2026-06-09)
- A99 HSC section 1280.15 (as amended by AB 116, 2025) and section 1206(a) — 15-business-day CDPH breach-report lane limited to facilities licensed under HSC 1204/1250/1725/1745; practitioner-office exemption (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, verified 2026-07-22)
- B1 California confidentiality overlay: CMIA and state breach law (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, verified 2026-03-23)
- B2 HIPAA privacy, security, and breach rules (ecfr.gov, verified 2026-03-23)
- B11 Dental Board of California 2018 Sunset Review Report — Board statement that no general law requires dentists to retain records for one specific period, while other program or reimbursement rules may impose retention duties (dbc.ca.gov, verified 2026-07-14)
Supporting public URLs
- /guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/how-to-pass
- /guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/source-registry
- /free-practice-test
- /guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/patient-access-and-board-requests
- /guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/practice-owner-duties
- /guide/california-dentistry-law-ethics-exam/scope-patient-of-record-telehealth