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Privacy Policy

Smile Craft Dental | Redwood City & Sunnyvale, CA | (650) 880-1550 | (650) 967-9900 | www.mysmilecraft.com

Last Updated: July 2026

Introduction

Smile Craft Dental is committed to protecting the privacy of all individuals who visit our website, contact our office, or interact with us in any way. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, how we protect it, and what choices you have regarding your information. Please read this policy carefully.

This Privacy Policy applies to information collected through our website at www.mysmilecraft.com and through other interactions with our practice. It does not apply to information collected in the context of your clinical care, which is governed by our separate Notice of Privacy Practices in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Where this policy describes cookies and similar tracking technologies, non-essential tracking technologies are disabled by default and are used only if you affirmatively opt in through the consent banner presented when you first visit our website. You can change or withdraw your consent at any time as described in the “Cookies and Tracking Technologies” section below.

Any health-related information submitted through our website is not considered protected health information (PHI) unless submitted through a secure, HIPAA-compliant channel.

Information We Collect

We collect two types of information: information you provide to us voluntarily, and information collected automatically when you use our website.

Information You Provide

We may collect personally identifiable information when you fill out a contact form, request an appointment, subscribe to our newsletter, submit a review, or otherwise communicate with us. This may include your name, email address, phone number, mailing address, and any other information you choose to provide. If you are an existing patient communicating with us through our patient portal, additional protections apply as described in our Notice of Privacy Practices.

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, certain information may be collected automatically through cookies and similar technologies, but only in accordance with your consent choices as described in the “Cookies and Tracking Technologies” section below. Depending on the categories you enable, this may include your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring website, pages viewed, time spent on pages, and other browsing behavior. This information is used in aggregate to help us understand how visitors use our site and to improve the user experience.

Phone Calls and Call Recording

We may use call tracking technologies in connection with phone communications to better understand how users find and interact with our practice. Calls to our office may be recorded for quality assurance, training, and analytics purposes. If a call may be recorded, you will be notified at or near the beginning of the call before any recording of the conversation occurs. If you do not wish to be recorded, please tell the person assisting you, and we will accommodate your request or offer an alternative way to communicate with us.

Information collected in connection with call tracking may include your phone number, the number you dialed, call duration, and, where you have been notified and permitted the recording to proceed, call content. Our call tracking provider is CallRail.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies (small text files placed on your device) and similar technologies such as pixels, tags, and scripts. These technologies fall into the following categories:

  • Strictly necessary. These are required for the website to function — for example, security features, load balancing, and remembering your cookie consent choices. They do not require your consent and cannot be switched off through the consent banner.
  • Tools such as Google Analytics 4 help us understand, in aggregate, how visitors use our website — which pages are visited, how long visitors stay, and how they arrived at our site. These tools are loaded only after you consent.
  • Session replay. Tools such as Microsoft Clarity may record how visitors interact with our website, including clicks, scrolling, mouse movement, and pages visited, to help us identify usability problems and improve the site. Text you type into forms is masked and is not captured by these tools. Session replay tools are loaded only after you consent.

Your Consent Choices

When you first visit our website, a consent banner allows you to accept or decline non-essential cookies and tracking technologies. Declining is as easy as accepting, and no non-essential tracking technology is loaded unless and until you affirmatively accept. If you decline, only strictly necessary technologies are used.

You may change or withdraw your consent at any time by selecting the “Cookie Settings” link in the footer of our website. Withdrawing consent stops future collection through non-essential technologies but does not affect information collected while your consent was in effect. You may also configure your browser to refuse cookies, although some features of our website may not function properly if strictly necessary cookies are disabled.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes: to respond to your inquiries and appointment requests, to communicate with you about our services, to send appointment reminders or follow-up communications where you have consented, to improve our website content and user experience, to comply with legal obligations, and to protect the security and integrity of our website and practice.

We do not use your information for automated decision-making or profiling in ways that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you.

If you provide your phone number through our website or other communications, you expressly consent to receive text messages from us, including appointment reminders, service updates, and other relevant communications, where permitted by applicable law. Message frequency may vary. Message and data rates may apply. You may opt out of receiving text messages at any time by replying STOP to any message. For assistance, reply HELP or contact our office directly.

How We Share Your Information

Smile Craft Dental does not sell your personal information for money.

We may share your information with trusted third-party vendors and service providers, including but not limited to analytics providers, call tracking platforms, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, appointment scheduling tools, and marketing service providers who assist us in operating our website, managing communications, or conducting our business. These parties are contractually obligated to keep your information confidential and to use it only for the purposes for which it was disclosed.

We do not share, sell, or disclose your mobile phone number or SMS consent information to third parties or affiliates for their own marketing or promotional purposes.

Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities, including courts, law enforcement agencies, and government regulators.

Business Transfers

In the event that Smile Craft Dental is involved in a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or other business transition, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will provide notice before your information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Protection of Rights

We may disclose your information when we believe disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Smile Craft Dental, our patients, or others.

How We Protect Your Information

Smile Craft Dental takes reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or disclosure. Our website uses encryption (HTTPS/TLS) for data transmitted between your browser and our servers. Access to personal information within our organization is limited to staff members who need it to carry out their responsibilities.

While we take these precautions seriously, no method of transmission over the internet and no method of electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security and encourage you to take care when sharing personal information online.

Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

Third-Party Websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, social media platforms, or other online services that are not operated by Smile Craft Dental. This Privacy Policy applies only to our website. We have no control over and accept no responsibility for the privacy practices of any third-party site. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of every website you visit.

Social Media and Online Reviews

Smile Craft Dental maintains a presence on social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. If you interact with us through those platforms, your interactions are subject to the privacy policies of those platforms, not this policy. We encourage you to review the privacy settings and policies of any social media platform you use.

If you submit a review of our practice through a third-party platform such as Google or Yelp, that review is subject to the terms of the relevant platform. We may reference or respond to public reviews, but will not include any information in our response that you have not already made public.

Children’s Privacy

Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information promptly. If you believe we may have collected information from a child, please contact us at in**@**********ft.com.

Your Choices and Rights

You have the following rights with respect to the personal information we hold about you.

Access and Correction

You may request access to the personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct any inaccuracies.

Deletion

You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain legal obligations that may require us to retain it.

Withdrawing Tracking Consent

You may withdraw or modify your consent to non-essential cookies and tracking technologies at any time via the “Cookie Settings” link in the footer of our website.

Opt Out of Communications

You may opt out of receiving marketing or promotional communications from us at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions in any email we send or by contacting us directly at in**@**********ft.com. Please note that even if you opt out of marketing communications, we may still contact you with important information related to your care or account.

Opt-Out Preference Signals (Global Privacy Control)

Because we do not sell or share personal information as defined by applicable law, opt-out preference signals such as Global Privacy Control (GPC) do not change how our website operates, and non-essential tracking remains off unless you opt in.

To exercise any of the above rights, please contact us using the information at the end of this policy. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with applicable law.

State Privacy Rights

Depending on the state in which you reside, you may have additional rights under applicable state privacy laws regarding the personal information we collect about you. These rights may include the right to know what personal information we collect and how it is used, the right to request deletion of your personal information, the right to correct inaccurate personal information, the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information or of targeted advertising, and the right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights.

California Residents

If you are a California resident, you have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA), including the rights to know, access, correct, and delete personal information; the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information; the right to limit the use of sensitive personal information; and the right to non-discrimination for exercising these rights. We do not sell personal information for money. Non-essential tracking technologies on our website, including analytics and session replay technologies, operate only with your prior consent, and you may withdraw that consent at any time through the “Cookie Settings” link in the footer of our website.

To submit a request or to learn more about the privacy rights available to you under the laws of your state, please contact us at in**@**********ft.com or (650) 880-1550 (Redwood City) / (650) 967-9900 (Sunnyvale). We will respond to all verified requests in accordance with applicable law and within the timeframe required by the laws of your state.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

Smile Craft Dental reserves the right to update this Privacy Policy at any time. When we make changes, we will update the effective date at the top of this page and, where changes materially affect how tracking technologies are used, we will refresh the consent banner so you can review your choices. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests related to this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Smile Craft Dental

Redwood City 2531 El Camino Real

Redwood City, CA 94061 

Phone: (650) 880-1550

Smile Craft Dental

Sunnyvale 787 E El Camino Real

Sunnyvale, CA 94087 

Phone: (650) 967-9900

Email: in**@**********ft.com

Website: www.mysmilecraft.com

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You finally have the bright, camera-ready smile you have been picturing, and now the question hits: how long will it actually last? It is a fair worry, since coffee, tea, and time all have a way of creeping back in on even the most carefully whitened smile.

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What Speeds Up the Fading Process

Even the best whitening treatment cannot fully outrun certain habits. Coffee, tea, red wine, and tobacco are some of the biggest culprits behind stains creeping back, since they contain pigments that latch onto the enamel the same way they did before you ever whitened. According to the American Dental Association, teeth can darken over time from food and drink, tobacco use, age, and even certain medications, so it makes sense that the same factors chip away at your whitening results too.

Genetics and natural enamel thickness also play a part. Some people simply have enamel that holds onto brightness longer than others, and there is not much we can do to change that biology. What we can help with is building a maintenance routine that works with your specific mouth rather than against it, whether you are coming to see us in Redwood City or Sunnyvale.

How to Make Your Results Last Longer

The single best thing you can do after whitening is rethink your relationship with staining foods and drinks, at least for the first 48 hours when your enamel is most porous and vulnerable. After that window, moderation goes a long way, and small swaps make a real difference over time.

We often walk patients through a few habits that consistently extend results:

  • Rinse or sip water: After coffee, tea, or wine, a quick water rinse helps keep pigments from settling into the enamel.
  • Use a straw: Sipping stain-heavy drinks through a straw reduces contact with the front of your teeth.
  • Brush soon after eating: Brushing about 30 minutes after meals removes surface stains before they have a chance to set.
  • Schedule regular cleanings: Professional cleanings clear away buildup that dulls your shade between whitening sessions.
  • Consider touch-up treatments: A quick touch-up every 12 to 18 months can maintain your shade without a full retreatment.

These habits will not undo years of coffee drinking overnight, but they add up, and most patients notice their results holding steady far longer once they put even a couple of these into practice.

Why Touch-Ups Matter More Than You Think

Whitening is not a one-and-done procedure so much as it is an ongoing relationship between you and your smile. Custom-fitted trays make touch-ups especially easy, since the tray already matches your teeth and a quick session can refresh your shade in far less time than the original treatment took. Our team, including Spanish-speaking staff for patients who prefer to discuss their care that way, is always happy to help you gauge when a touch-up makes sense.

Patients who stay proactive about maintenance tend to report results lasting closer to the three-year mark rather than the six-month minimum, and pairing whitening with complementary treatments like veneers or a full smile makeover can help protect your results even further.

Ready to Brighten Your Smile at Smile Craft Dental?

At Smile Craft Dental, Dr. Janice Chou and our team hold ourselves to a high standard in patient care, including making sure you leave with a whitening plan built around your lifestyle rather than a generic timeline. We invest in top-of-the-line technology and continuing education so you always get treatment that reflects where cosmetic dentistry is headed, not where it used to be, all inside an office our patients consistently tell us they love. Whether you are considering teeth whitening for the first time or you are due for a touch-up, we would love to help you figure out the right path forward.

If you are ready to talk about brightening your smile or want to know more about which whitening option fits your needs, reach out through our contact form, and our team at either our Redwood City or Sunnyvale office will be in touch to get you scheduled.

When a dentist says, “Root canal,” those two words tend to bring up immediate worry, but the actual process is far less dramatic than the reputation suggests. Most patients describe the experience as feeling similar to getting a filling, thanks to modern anesthesia and instruments designed to make treatment quick and comfortable. Understanding each step ahead of time can turn a source of dread into a routine visit.

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Step One: Examination and Anesthesia

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Step Two: Removing the Infected Pulp

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Once the pulp is removed, we clean and shape the inside of each canal. This step is one of the most important in the process because canals can be narrow and curved, so we take extreme care to reach every part of the space before moving forward.

Step Three: Filling and Sealing the Tooth

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Step Four: Restoring the Tooth

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Patients sometimes worry that a treated tooth will feel different permanently, but any lingering sensitivity typically fades within a few days. If discomfort continues past that point, it is worth calling us to make sure everything is healing as expected.

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At Smile Craft Dental, Dr. Amy Nguyen and our team have helped patients throughout Redwood City and Sunnyvale save teeth that once seemed destined for extraction. We take the time to walk you through every step so you feel informed and comfortable before treatment begins, using technology that keeps the process efficient and precise.

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