Security cameras in a Seattle dental office should cover the entries, corridors and sterilization area, record video without sound, and stay out of anywhere a patient or employee expects privacy. ClearMax technicians install them on site as part of the buildout, with the recorder in the IT closet and a written list of who can view footage.
Last updated: November 2026
Where do cameras belong in a dental office?
- Entries. The main door and any staff or rear door, framed so that a face is recognizable and not just a silhouette against the daylight.
- Corridors. They show movement between rooms without looking into the rooms themselves.
- Sterilization. A practice may want a record of this area, and the angle should cover the workflow, not the people's screens.
- The front desk from the public side, if the practice wants it, aimed so that it records the counter and not the monitors.
- The IT closet door, since the equipment that holds the records sits behind it.
Each position goes on the plan with a one-line reason. A camera without a reason is usually a camera that should not be there, and the reason also helps when someone on staff asks why it was installed.
Where not to put security cameras?
Restrooms and any place someone changes clothes are off the list, with no exceptions. RCW 9A.44.115 describes a place with a reasonable expectation of privacy as one where a reasonable person would believe they could disrobe in privacy without being photographed or filmed, or could reasonably expect to be safe from casual or hostile intrusion or surveillance. That wording reaches further than a restroom door, so a staff changing area counts too, and a break room deserves a careful second look.
Operatories are a separate decision, and the default here is no. Patients are in a vulnerable position there, charts and radiographs are on screen, and conversations about their health take place in the room. A practice with a specific reason should raise it with its own counsel before any camera goes on the plan.
Screens are the other limit. Under RCW 19.255.005, a name combined with information about a person's medical history, condition, diagnosis or treatment is personal information. A camera with a clear view of the front desk monitor can end up recording charts all day, which turns the recorder into another place holding that information. So angles get checked on site with the monitors switched on, not just from a drawing.
Should the cameras record sound?
No, and in Washington this is the first setting to check. RCW 9.73.030 makes it unlawful to record a private conversation with any device without first obtaining the consent of all the persons engaged in the conversation. Many cameras ship with a microphone, and some turn it on by default. In a dental office, every conversation worth recording is probably one that should not be recorded: a diagnosis, a payment arrangement, a staff disagreement.
So audio is switched off on every camera and in the recorder, and that setting is checked and written down at handover. The statute does have a route for consent by announcement, but a plan built on signs and announcements is far harder to live with than simply not recording sound. A practice that has a reason to want audio should talk to its counsel first.
Is it better to have wired or wireless security cameras?
For a dental office, wired. A single cable carries both data and power from the switch in the closet to the camera, so there is no battery to replace and no reliance on WiFi that is already serving staff tablets and patient phones. A wired camera also keeps recording when the WiFi is struggling, and that is often exactly when something is going wrong.
| Question | Wired camera | Wireless camera |
|---|---|---|
| Power | Over the data cable from the switch | Battery or a nearby outlet |
| Reliability | Steady, unaffected by radio traffic | Depends on WiFi strength and load |
| Installation | Easiest during rough-in | Quicker in a finished space |
| Fits best | New buildouts and most fixed positions | A spot where a cable truly cannot go |
On a buildout, the cable goes in with the rest of the structured cabling, and each camera gets its own labeled run. Cameras also sit on their own segment of the network, away from the clinical computers and the patient WiFi, so that a camera with an old firmware version is not a route to the server.
Where does the footage live?
On a recorder in the IT closet, which raises two questions: how long to keep it, and what happens if the recorder is stolen.
Retention is the practice's decision, and the recorder's drive is sized to match. Longer retention means a bigger drive and more footage to protect, so the plan states the number of days and the reason for it. A shorter period that covers the time it normally takes to notice a problem is usually a better choice than keeping everything for as long as the disk allows.
Theft is the reason for encryption. RCW 19.255.005 defines secured as encrypted in a manner that meets or exceeds the National Institute of Standards and Technology standard, or otherwise made unreadable, unusable or undecipherable. Where a recorder supports it, footage is encrypted, and any recorder is kept behind the closet's locked door. Washington's breach law, RCW 19.255.010, stops treating encrypted information as protected once the encryption key or other means of deciphering it is acquired by an unauthorized person, so the key and the admin password are not stored next to the recorder or on a label stuck to it.
Who can watch, and from where?
- A short named list. Usually the owner and one manager, each with their own login, so the recorder's log means something.
- Different rights for different people. Someone who needs to check the front door does not need to export footage.
- Viewing from a phone, if the practice wants it, set up through the manufacturer's secured app or a VPN. The recorder is not opened directly to the internet, for the same reason the vendor warns against opening its database port on routers.
- A written note for each export: who took a clip, when and why.
Default passwords are changed before the system goes live, and firmware is brought up to date at the same time. Recording is the job here. No monitoring service is offered, so nobody is watching live, and staff should know that in an emergency they call 911.
What should staff and patients be told?
Tell them plainly. A small sign at the entrance saying that the premises use video recording, and a line in the employee handbook covering where cameras are, what they record, and who can view them. Staff who help choose positions rarely object later. The wording of any policy belongs with the practice's own counsel, and it is worth settling before the cameras go up, not after someone asks.
How do outages and older buildings change the plan?
A camera system goes dark when the power does, unless it is on the closet's battery. A few minutes of cover is easy to add, since the switch already sits on that battery and the recorder can share it. Running through a long outage is another matter, and the plan does not pretend otherwise. In older brick buildings, drilling and cable routes can also turn into a bigger job than a floor plan suggests. The quote is built from the details the practice provides, and photos of each position help a lot. If more work is needed, it is brought to the practice's attention and the bid is updated.
What does the practice get at handover?
- A map of every camera, with its reason and its label.
- A screenshot of each camera's view, taken at handover, with the monitors on.
- A record that audio is off on every camera and on the recorder.
- The retention setting, and proof that the recorder keeps that many days.
- The list of who can view, and how to remove someone.
Cameras also pair well with access control: a door log says whose fob opened the door, and the footage shows who was actually holding it.
Camera questions from Seattle practices
How many cameras does a dental office need?
Often fewer than expected. Entries, corridors and sterilization cover most of what matters. Send the floor plan and what you want to be able to see, and the list comes from that.
Can you reuse the cameras we already have?
Sometimes. Older cameras without current firmware or a way to switch off audio are poor candidates. Send the model numbers along with the project details.