Website terms of use for consumers

The use of the Delta Dental of South Dakota (“Delta Dental”) website (the "Website") is subject to the terms and conditions stated herein (“Terms of Use”). By your use of the Website, you agree to the Terms of Use. Your breach of these Terms of Use may jeopardize your continued use of the services.

The services should not be used in any urgent or emergency situations. If you think you may have a medical emergency or may need urgent medical attention, call your doctor or 911 immediately.

 

License and restrictions

You are hereby granted a personal, non-exclusive, revocable, non-transferrable license to use the Website and view the content, materials, and information available on the Website for your personal and non-commercial purposes. In connection with this license, you may download one copy of the materials on the Website; provided that you do not modify or alter the materials in any way, nor delete or change any copyright or trademark notice. Neither title nor intellectual property rights are transferred to you, but remain with Delta Dental (or its licensors), who is (are) the exclusive owner(s) of all rights, title and interest therein. Except as otherwise expressly provided, all rights are reserved to Delta Dental.

You will not copy, reproduce, modify, use, republish, upload, post, transmit, sell, resell, license, otherwise distribute or commercially exploit in any way, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, otherwise attempt to derive source code from, or modify or create derivative works based on, the Website or any software or materials obtained from or through the Website. You may not rent, lease, lend, redistribute, sublicense or transfer the Website. You acknowledge that the terms of this Section are reasonable and necessary and you agree that actual or threatened breach by you of said terms will entitle Delta Dental to immediate injunctive and other equitable relief without bond and without the necessity of showing actual monetary damages. Delta Dental reserves the right to terminate your access to the Website for any violation of these Terms of Use in Delta Dental’s sole discretion.

You will not use the Website for any unlawful or abusive purposes, including but not limited to the violation of any Delta Dental or third-party intellectual property rights, and the posting or distribution of any “harmful” or “malicious” code or programming devices (e.g., viruses, corrupted files, key locks, back doors, trap doors, timers or other disabling devices) or any other similar software or programs that may adversely affect the operation of the Website or any other software or hardware.

You certify that you are either 18 years old or older, or, if you are between the ages of 13 and 17, you have obtained the consent of your parents or legal guardian and are able and competent to give Delta Dental rights as detailed in these Terms of Use, and to comply with these Terms of Use. The Website is not intended for children under the age of 13, and children under the age of 13 are not permitted to use the Website.

In addition, certain functionality on or linked to the Website may be governed by other terms, including but not limited to the messaging functionality provided by mPulse Mobile under its Terms of Use, and the map, driving directions, autocomplete and geolocation functions provided by Google.

Finally, do not use the services while operating a motorized vehicle or walking. Such use may distract you, may create a hazard for your or others and is illegal in many areas.

Your account ID and password

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account ID and password and for restricting access to your computer or other device. You are responsible for all activities that occur as a result of the use of your account ID or password, whether or not such activity is authorized by you. This includes, without limitation, maintaining the confidentiality of all data accessed thereby. In addition, you must immediately notify Delta Dental at the address provided below in the event you discover or suspect any unauthorized use of your account ID or password.

You agree not to access or attempt to access any password-protected portions of the Website without an authorized account ID and password or through any means other than by utilizing your authorized account ID or password on the appropriate web page or web tools. Delta Dental reserves the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, and/or prohibit access to the Website, in whole or in part, for any or no reason, at any time in its sole discretion, without notice to you.

Delta Dental does not provide medical advice

Delta Dental does not offer dental or other medical advice. The content, information and materials provided by Delta Dental through the Website cannot, and is not intended to, replace the relationship that you have with your health care providers; are for general informational purposes only; and shall not be construed, directly or indirectly, as the practice of medicine or dentistry or the dispensing of any medical or dental advice. You should always talk to your health care providers for diagnosis and treatment, including information regarding which drugs or treatment may be appropriate for you. Further, any such content or information is not intended to be instructional for medical or dental diagnosis or treatment or to cover, as applicable, all possible uses, directions, precautions, drug interactions, or adverse effects, and none of the information on the Services represents or warrants that any particular drug or treatment is safe, appropriate, or effective for you. Health information changes quickly. Therefore, it is always best to confirm information with your health care providers.

It does not provide dental or medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please see your dentist, other oral health professional, or doctor without delay if you have any dental or medical questions or concerns. You are responsible for verifying the accuracy, reliability, and completeness of any content and information included in such Risk Assessment with your healthcare provider and you should not rely on such content or information as a substitute for medical or dental diagnosis or treatment.

Please consult your doctor, dentist, or other qualified health provider if you have any questions about a medical or dental condition, or before taking any drug, changing your diet, or starting or stopping any course of treatment. You should not disregard medical or dental advice or delay seeking medical or dental advice as a result of any such information or content or any information that does not come directly from your healthcare provider.

Healthcare providers search function

The Website permits you to conduct searches of various healthcare providers by location, specialty, participation status and other parameters. The list of, and basic information regarding, such healthcare providers are obtained from such providers through Delta Dental. Inclusion of healthcare providers in Delta Dental’s ‘Find A Dentist Tool’ or providing a profile page or other contact information for a healthcare provider on the Services is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement, nor does omission imply disapproval.

All information on a healthcare provider’s profile page is the sole and exclusive responsibility of the individual provider. You should confirm with each healthcare provider his or her credentials, participation status, qualifications, and abilities. It is your responsibility to research a provider and determine his or her qualifications.

Proprietary materials

The information contained on the Website has been compiled by Delta Dental from internal and external sources prepared for the purpose of providing information about Delta Dental, Delta Dental Plans Association, its affiliates, the Delta Dental Companies, and its and their products and services to customers and other permitted users. Delta Dental reserves the right to make changes to the information, data, and materials provided on the Services at any time without notice.

DELTA DENTAL, the DELTA DENTAL logo and other trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, and other identifiers used in or in connection with the Services are the proprietary service marks or trademarks of Delta Dental, Delta Dental Plans Association, affiliates, or third parties and are protected in the United States and internationally. No use of any of these marks or identifiers may be made without the prior, written authorization of Delta Dental. All other trademarks and service marks not owned by Delta Dental that appear on the Website are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by Delta Dental.

All content contained on the Website, including but not limited to all works of authorship, design, text, images, and data compilations; any improvements or modifications to such content; any derivative works based thereon; and the collection, arrangement and assembly of all such content, are owned, except as otherwise expressly stated herein, by Delta Dental or its licensors. The entire contents of the Website are protected by United States and worldwide copyright and intellectual property laws and treaty provisions.

Nothing in these Terms of Use shall be deemed to grant to you or any other user any license or right in or to any copyright, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary right of Delta Dental, Delta Dental Plans Association, affiliates, or any other person. You may not use, copy, modify or display any of the trademarks, service marks, names or logos appearing on the Services in any way without the prior express written permission of Delta Dental or the respective owner thereof.

Disclaimers

The services, the software used or contained therein, and all information, data, products and materials contained, described or referenced therein (collectively, "Materials") are provided to you on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation:

1. any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, noninfringement, or title;
2. any warranty regarding the availability, accuracy, reliability, operation, use, or performance of the services;
3. any warranty that defects will be corrected or that the services or the server(s) and connections that make them available will be uninterrupted, secure, or free of errors, viruses or other harmful components; and
4. any implied warranties arise from course of dealing or course of performance.

In addition, Delta Dental cannot and does not represent, guarantee or warrant that the materials accessible on or via the services are accurate, correct, complete, reliable, or current, and Delta Dental is not responsible for any errors or omissions therein, or any consequences resulting from your reliance on such information.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties or limitations on how long an implied warranty may last; as a result, the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. If the forgoing provisions of this section are deemed, in whole or in part, to be unenforceable under applicable law, then such provisions shall be reformed to the maximum limitation permitted by applicable law.  To the extent permissible, any implied warranties are limited to 90 days from the date of access.

Delta Dental will use reasonable commercial efforts to keep the services available for access, subject to scheduled downtime for maintenance purposes, unscheduled maintenance and system outages. There are no assurances that the services will be accessible or available at all times for that access will be uninterrupted.

Limitations of liability

To the extent permitted by applicable law, neither Delta Dental,  Delta Dental Plans Association, affiliates, nor any of its or their third party providers or licensors will be liable to you or any third party for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, exemplary, punitive, and consequential damages, even if Delta Dental has been previously advised of this possibility of such damages, whether in action under contract, negligence or any other theory, arise out of or in connection with these Terms of Use or the use, inability to use, or performance of the Services, or any materials available on or via the Website, nor Delta Dental, Delta Dental Plans Association, affiliates, or any of its or their Third Party Providers, be responsible for any damages whatsoever that result from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files, errors, defects, delays in operation or transmission, or any failure of performance whether or not caused by events beyond their reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, communications line failure, theft, destruction, or unauthorized access to our records, programs or services.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages; as a result, the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. If the forgoing provisions of this limitation of liability section are deemed, in whole or in part, to be unenforceable under applicable law, then to the extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall the total liability of Delta Dental, Delta Dental Plans Association, affiliates, or any of its or their third party providers or licensors, in the aggregate, to you for any and all damages relating to or arising from these terms of use or the user, inability to use, or performance of the Website, or any materials available on or via the Website exceed the amount of fifty dollars ($50.00).

Indemnification

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to indemnify and hold Delta Dental, Delta Dental Plans Association, or its affiliates harmless from and against any and all damages, liabilities, actions, causes of action, suits, claims, demands, losses, costs and expenses (including without limitation reasonable attorneys’ fees, disbursements and court costs, including any incurred in enforcement of this indemnification provision) arising from or in connection with:

1. your use of the Website, or any content, information, materials or services contained, displayed or available therein;
2. your violation of these Terms of Use;
3. any Submission (as defined below) provided by you to Delta Dental; or
4. your violation of any rights of any third party.

Third party links

The Website may provide links or references to third party websites, mobile applications, services, or materials which are not provided, related to, or maintained by Delta Dental. Delta Dental has no responsibility for the content therein, regardless of whether the link is provided by Delta Dental or a third party and shall not be liable for any damages or injury arising from your access to or use of that content. The display of any link shall not and does not constitute or imply endorsement by Delta Dental, Delta Dental Plans Association, or its affiliates of the linked site or any content therein. No judgment or warranty is made with respect to the accuracy, timeliness, or suitability of the content of any website to which the Services may link, including information on such other website regarding Delta Dental, Delta Dental Plans Association, or its affiliates.

You may include a link to the Website on one or more other websites operated by you; provided such sites link to the home page (https://southdakota.deltadental.com) only. This limited license expressly prohibits the framing of Delta Dental content in any way or any other activity that may create a misimpression or confusion among users with respect to sponsorship or affiliation.

Finally, certain functionality on or linked to the Website is provided by third parties and is subject to separate terms of use, terms and conditions, or privacy policies and practices. We recommend that you review any Terms of Use and, as applicable, Privacy Statements or Privacy Policies associated with such functionality prior to use.

Your privacy

Delta Dental recognizes that you have an interest in how we collect, retain and use information about you. To understand how we collect, use and safeguard the information you may provide to us via the Services, including individually identifiable health information, please review the Delta Dental Privacy Statement.

Submissions

While Delta Dental appreciates your comments and is happy to answer your questions about our services and our company, we generally do not accept ideas, know-how, inventions or suggestions for products and services (“Submissions”). This is for your protection and for ours, and to avoid misunderstanding about the origin of Submissions between you and Delta Dental.

Please note that any Submissions, remarks, graphics, or other information provided by you by any means, including through the Services, email, a “Contact Us” form, or otherwise, is and will be non-confidential and non-proprietary, except that any personal information or individually identifiable health information included in any such Submissions will be held and used in accordance with our Privacy Statement

By making a Submission, you grant Delta Dental a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works of, adapt, display, and perform your Submissions. You represent and warrant that you have the necessary rights to such Submissions, including the right to assign or grant a license to your rights in this Agreement.  Please do not make any Submissions if do not wish to grant us the rights set forth herein.

Enforcement of terms and conditions and dispute resolution

These Terms of Use are governed and interpreted pursuant to the laws of the State of South Dakota, United States of America, notwithstanding any principles of conflicts of law. Delta Dental makes no representation that Materials provided through the Website are applicable or appropriate for use in all locations. If you use the Website from other locations you are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws.

Binding Mutual Arbitration. Except for intellectual property claims, any dispute, claim or controversy in connection with, arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation, or validity of this Agreement, including, but not limited to, the determination of the scope or applicability of this agreement to arbitrate (a “Dispute”), will be determined by arbitration in Hughes County, SD before a single arbitrator. The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) in accordance with AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. This provision will not preclude Parties from seeking provisional remedies in aid of arbitration from a court of appropriate jurisdiction.

Conduct of Arbitration. The arbitration will be commenced by the claimant party filing a demand for arbitration with the administrator of AAA and serving the demand on the opposing party. Within thirty (30) calendar days of the date the demand for arbitration is filed, the Parties will select an arbitrator by following the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules’ appointment procedures. Except as may be required by law, neither Party nor the arbitrator may disclose the existence, content or results of any arbitration under this Agreement without the prior written consent of both Parties. The arbitrator’s award will be in writing accompanied by a reasoned opinion and a written statement of the essential findings and conclusions on which the award is based.

Costs. The arbitrator will determine how the costs and expenses of the arbitration will be allocated between the Parties, and may award attorneys’ fees.

Limitation of Liability. In any arbitration arising out of or related to this Agreement, the arbitrator may not award any incidental, indirect, or consequential damages, including damages for lost profits or any punitive or exemplary damages.

Arbitration is on an Individual Basis Only; Class Action Waiver. The parties agree to arbitrate solely on an individual basis, and that this Agreement does not permit class arbitration or any claims brought as a plaintiff or class member in any class or representative arbitration proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding. Notwithstanding the arbitrator’s power to rule on his or her own jurisdiction and the validity or enforceability of the agreement to arbitrate, the arbitrator has no power to rule on the validity or enforceability of the agreement to arbitrate solely on an individual basis. In the event the prohibition on class arbitration is deemed invalid or unenforceable, then the remaining portions of this Section will remain in force.

If any part of these Terms of Use is found to be unlawful, void or unenforceable, that part will be deemed severable and will not affect the validity and enforceability of remaining provisions.

You may not assign or otherwise transfer these Terms of Use or any rights or obligations hereunder. The failure of Delta Dental to exercise or enforce any right or provision set forth herein shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. These Terms of Use set forth the entire understanding between you and Delta Dental with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede any prior or contemporaneous communications, representations, or agreements, whether oral or written, between you and Delta Dental with respect to such subject matter.

Amendments and modifications

Delta Dental reserves the right to modify or discontinue the Website, any content or materials contained or accessible thereon, at any time without prior notice. Delta Dental shall in no way be held liable for any consequence which results from Delta Dental’s decision to modify or discontinue the Website or any content or functionality thereof. In addition, Delta Dental reserves the right, at any time and without notice, to add to, change, update, or modify these Terms of Use simply by posting such addition, change, update, or modification on the Website. Any such change, update, or modification will be effective immediately upon posting on the Website. We suggest that you check these Terms of Use periodically for changes.

Miscellaneous

You guarantee that

1. you are not located in a country that is subject to U.S. Government embargo, or that has been designated by the U.S. Government as a "terrorist supporting" country, and
2. you are not listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.

Delta Dental expressly reserves the right to monitor any and all use of the Website.

Communicating by email

Sending an email to Delta Dental is not a completely secure and confidential means of communication. It is possible that your email communication may be accessed or viewed by another internet user while in transit to Delta Dental. If you wish to keep your communication private do not use the email functionality. In such case, please contact Delta Dental by phone.

Contact information

Questions regarding these Terms of Use should be directed to:

Delta Dental of South Dakota
Attention: Director of Compliance and Risk
PO Box 1157
Pierre, SD 57501