Dental records and patient rights in Poland: copies, consent, complaints and filling guarantees

What rights do dental patients have?

Dental patients have the same rights as patients of any other doctor. The Act on Patient Rights and the Patient Ombudsman states that references to a doctor include a dentist (art. 3 ust. 2). The main rights concern information, consent, confidentiality, records and care provided with due diligence.

This article describes the legal status as of 24 October 2026: the Patient Rights Act, consolidated text Dz.U. 2024 poz. 581, with the 2026 amendments, and the Act on the Professions of Doctor and Dentist (t.j. Dz.U. 2026 poz. 37). The table summarises rights relevant to dental care.

How can you obtain records from your dentist?

The practice makes medical records available to the patient, their legal representative or someone authorised by the patient (art. 26 ust. 1). You can inspect them on site and take notes or photographs, obtain an extract, transcript, copy or printout, or receive them electronically or on a data storage medium (art. 27 ust. 1).

X-rays on film are released against acknowledgement of receipt and must be returned after use (art. 27 ust. 2). Digital images, like other electronic records, can be supplied on a storage medium or electronically.

The legislation specifies no deadline for supplying records. Rzecznik Praw Pacjenta, Poland’s Patient Ombudsman, explains that this should happen without undue delay, usually within a few days. A provider cannot refuse by referring generally to medical confidentiality or the GDPR, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (RODO in Polish). Refusal is possible, for example, if the requester is not entitled to the records or their identity cannot be verified.

What does a copy of dental records cost?

The first copy of medical records is free: no fee applies when records in the requested scope are first supplied to the patient or their legal representative as an extract, transcript, copy, printout or on a storage medium (art. 28 ust. 2a pkt 1). The Patient Ombudsman stresses that there is no basis for restricting this right.

A provider may charge for further copies of the same records, but the Act caps the fee at a fraction of the previous quarter’s average salary, announced by the President of GUS, Statistics Poland (art. 28 ust. 4). Inspection on site is free, because the Act permits charges only for extracts, transcripts, copies, printouts and storage media (art. 28 ust. 1). The maximum rates are:

• One page of an extract or transcript: no more than 0.002 of the average salary.
• One page of a copy or printout: no more than 0.00007 of the average salary.
• A storage medium, such as a disc or USB stick: no more than 0.0004 of the average salary.
• Postage: according to the Ombudsman, the cost may match the postal operator’s tariff but cannot exceed it.

How long are dental records and X-rays kept?

The practice keeps medical records for 20 years from the end of the calendar year of the last entry (art. 29 ust. 1). X-rays kept separately from the patient’s records are retained for 10 years from the end of the year they were taken. Records of children up to their second birthday are retained for 22 years.

After this period, the provider destroys records so the patient cannot be identified, or releases them to the patient, their legal representative or an authorised person (art. 29 ust. 2). If a practice closes, electronic records are stored and made available through Poland’s Medical Information System by a unit subordinate to the health minister. The practice tells patients where to find them (art. 30a ust. 9 in its 2026 wording).

Data in medical records are protected (art. 23 ust. 2). The Patient Ombudsman explains that patient consent to personal data processing is not attached to the records. Information about the data controller and your rights is provided in the notice under art. 13 i 14 RODO.

Consent to dental treatment: spoken or written?

You can generally consent to dental treatment orally or through conduct that clearly demonstrates your wishes (art. 17 ust. 4 of the Patient Rights Act). Surgery and treatment or diagnostic methods carrying increased risk require written consent (art. 18 ust. 1 of that Act and art. 34 ust. 1 of the Act on the Professions of Doctor and Dentist), for example oral surgery.

Consent is meaningful only after proper information: the dentist explains the diagnosis, proposed and possible treatment methods, foreseeable consequences of using or foregoing them, and the prognosis (art. 9 ust. 2 i art. 16). You may refuse consent and may also ask not to receive this information (art. 9 ust. 4).

Minors aged 16 or 17 give consent jointly with a parent or other legal representative. The article on teenagers visiting the dentist without a parent explains the details, including children attending with grandparents.

Do fillings have a guarantee?

There is no statutory guarantee for a filling. A guarantee under the Civil Code is a voluntary guarantee declaration relating to an item sold (art. 577 § 1 k.c.). The Consumer Rights Act generally does not apply to contracts for healthcare services provided to patients to assess, maintain or improve their health (art. 3a ust. 1). The exception is the provisions listed in art. 3a ust. 2, which apply to such contracts concluded at a distance or off business premises.

Treatment is a service to which the rules on contracts of mandate apply as appropriate (art. 750 k.c.). A doctor is responsible for due diligence, assessed in light of the professional nature of the activity (art. 355 § 2 i art. 472 k.c.). The Patient Rights Act likewise provides a right to care delivered with due diligence (art. 8), rather than a right to a specific result.

A practice may voluntarily adopt its own rules, such as a free filling repair within a specified period. Ask about these before treatment and request them in writing. Without such provisions, a complaint rests on the general rules on liability for improper performance of an obligation (art. 471 k.c.).

How do you complain about dental treatment?

It is usually best to start a dental treatment complaint by speaking to the dentist or writing to the practice manager, describing the problem and appointment dates. First request a copy of your records; the first copy is free. If the matter remains unresolved, you may use one or several independent routes.

The Patient Ombudsman can investigate on site, require explanations and documents from the provider, and send a formal intervention to which the provider must reply within 30 days (art. 52 i 53). In civil matters, the Ombudsman can request court proceedings or join them (art. 55), but does not award compensation directly. The routes are:

• Patient Ombudsman: a free application to investigate a breach of patient rights (art. 50), including via ePUAP, Poland’s electronic public administration platform, or email; the 800 190 590 helpline operates around the clock.
• Regional professional liability officer of the medical chamber: a complaint about breaches of ethics or professional practice rules (art. 53 of the Medical Chambers Act); as a rule, proceedings cannot be initiated more than 3 years after the act, but any step taken by the officer interrupts that period (art. 64 ust. 1 i 2). If the act is also a criminal offence, liability for the professional misconduct does not expire before criminal liability does (art. 64 ust. 4).
• Civil court: damages for harm from improperly delivered treatment (art. 471 k.c.) or compensation for non-material harm caused by a culpable breach of patient rights (art. 4 of the Patient Rights Act).
• Medical Events Compensation Fund: covers only events during publicly funded hospital care (art. 67q), so it does not cover treatment in a dental practice.

How records are kept at DentalBlue

At DentalBlue in Białystok, medical records are digital. Images from intraoral and panoramic X-rays to CBCT scans are taken in the clinic’s own radiology unit. “Wizyta bez bólu” (visit without pain, 300 zł in the price list) includes a panoramic X-ray, consultation, examination and written treatment plan with stage prices. The final scope and cost are agreed at consultation, and prices may change. The clinic publishes information about data processing in the GDPR notice on its website. Consultation appointments can be arranged on 85 748 00 50.