AI for Dental and Medical Clinics: Useful, Safe and Compliant in Ontario

The short answer

AI for dental and medical clinics is worth using for phones, booking, reminders and, with care, AI scribes. In Ontario, the colleges and the privacy commissioner have set clear expectations: tell patients when AI is involved, get consent before recording a visit, review every AI-generated note, and never let a vendor reuse patient data without express consent. The clinician stays accountable for everything that ends up in the chart.

Clinics have two kinds of work that AI can touch. The front desk handles calls, rescheduling, recalls, insurance questions and forms. The clinical side handles notes, letters and, increasingly, decision support. The first carries modest risk if you keep health details out of the conversation. The second involves personal health information under Ontario's Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), and the rules are stricter. This guide covers both.

AI for dental and medical clinics: what Ontario regulators expect

Dentists. The Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario's guidance, Artificial Intelligence in Dentistry, took effect September 18, 2025. It does not create new requirements; it applies existing ones. Its practical recommendations include:

• Tell people when they are interacting with AI rather than a human, for example a virtual assistant chatbot.
• Before using AI that directly affects a patient's care, explain how it will be used and its benefits and limitations.
• Critically review all AI-generated outputs for accuracy, completeness and bias before they go into the record. The guidance notes AI scribes "can generate documentation that includes information that was not discussed."
• Record whether AI was used to create records or support a diagnosis or treatment plan.
• Do not let outputs containing health information be used for other purposes, such as training the tool, without express and knowledgeable consent.
• Accommodate patients who want little or no AI involvement where possible.

Physicians. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario's advice, Using Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Practice, says "the use of AI scribes is encouraged" to reduce administrative time. Physicians must inform patients about how AI will be used, obtain consent before recording conversations, and "review all information generated using AI for accuracy and completeness."

The privacy commissioner. In January 2026 Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner released AI Scribes: Key Considerations for the Health Sector. According to BLG's summary of the new AI scribe guidance, the IPC says consent "would generally be required," expects detailed vendor contracts and privacy impact assessments, wants human review before notes enter the EMR, and treats deleting recordings once a validated note is stored as best practice. Vendor training on audio recordings is effectively ruled out without consent.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the current versions of these documents and speak to your college or privacy counsel about your situation.

A compliant AI scribe workflow

Two steps are easy to skip under time pressure. The review in step 4 is not a skim; scribes can add things that were never said. And step 6 depends on the vendor contract: if the agreement does not say when recordings are deleted and that they are not used for training, you cannot promise patients either.

Front-desk AI: the lower-risk starting point

Most clinics feel the pressure first on the phones. Missed calls during lunch, after hours and at peak check-in times become missed bookings. An AI receptionist or chatbot can handle:

• Booking, rescheduling and cancellations against your real schedule.
• Hours, location, parking, accepted insurance and new-patient forms.
• Recall and hygiene reminders, and filling last-minute gaps from a waitlist.
• Routing urgent calls to staff or to the right emergency message.

Keep it administrative. The assistant should identify itself as automated, as the RCDSO guidance recommends, should not ask for symptoms beyond what booking needs, and should never give clinical advice. Pricing for these tools varies widely; our breakdown of what an AI receptionist costs in Canada covers the ranges. For examples by practice type, see our pages for dental clinics and healthcare practices.

Five mistakes to avoid

1. Consumer AI accounts for patient data. Free chatbots are not a place for names, charts or images. Canada's privacy commissioners advise using de-identified information in prompts where possible in their generative AI principles.
2. No vendor due diligence. RCDSO lists what to ask: legal compliance, where data is stored, retention, performance, training data and how updates are communicated.
3. Consent by poster alone. A sign in the waiting room does not meet the IPC's expectation that patients understand what is recorded and why.
4. Letting AI-drafted marketing make claims. Professional advertising rules still apply to copy an AI writes.
5. No audit trail. Keep a record of which tool produced what, and review significant errors.

Your first 90 days

• Month 1: Pick one administrative use, usually after-hours calls and booking. Map how it connects to your practice management system. Check where data is stored. Read our guide to connecting AI to business data safely.
• Month 2: Go live on the phones with a clear "automated assistant" greeting and a hand-off to staff. Track answered calls, bookings and complaints.
• Month 3: If you want a scribe, run a privacy impact assessment, negotiate retention and no-training terms, write the patient script and consent note, then pilot with one or two clinicians who review every note.

Key takeaways

• RCDSO and CPSO both treat AI as a tool the clinician supervises, not a decision-maker.
• Get consent before recording a visit with an AI scribe, and review every note before it enters the chart.
• Vendor contracts must cover storage, retention, deletion and a ban on training with patient data.
• Front-desk automation is the fastest, lowest-risk win if it stays administrative.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need patient consent to use an AI scribe in Ontario?

CPSO says physicians must obtain consent before recording conversations using AI, and the IPC's January 2026 guidance says consent would generally be required. RCDSO recommends informing patients before AI is used in their care.

Can an AI receptionist book dental appointments under PHIPA?

Generally yes, if it is set up as part of the clinic's service with appropriate safeguards and contracts, collects only what booking needs, and tells callers it is automated.

Can the AI vendor use our patient data to improve its model?

Not without express and knowledgeable consent for that specific purpose, according to RCDSO's guidance. Put a no-training clause in the contract.

Sources

1. Guidance: Artificial Intelligence in Dentistry — Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, effective September 18, 2025
2. Using Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Practice — College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, updated August 2025
3. What health organizations need to know about the new AI scribe guidelines in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta — Borden Ladner Gervais, February 13, 2026
4. Principles for responsible, trustworthy and privacy-protective generative AI technologies — Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, December 7, 2023

How Flowmatix can help

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