How dentists can avoid malpractice claims and lawsuits

Dental malpractice claims make assertions about the quality of your work. Even a frivolous lawsuit can be expensive. It’ll require a good dental malpractice attorney or law firm that specializes in these types of cases.

That’s why it’s important to be aware of the common malpractice claims made against dentists. These include:

• Allergic reactions and other complications. A patient could develop a new medical condition between visits that your practice ought to know about, such as an allergy to certain drugs, food, or latex. Make sure you regularly update your patient’s medical information and verify it before each visit.
• Failure to give patients all the information they need. For example, a patient could claim that you didn’t fully explain a treatment plan and any risks, so the patient couldn’t make an informed decision.
• Failed treatments or procedures. This could include claims of tooth damage or injury from botched restorations, root canals, faulty dental implants, veneers, crowns, and more. Patients could also claim that you failed to spot decay or another problem during a routine oral exam, which led to bigger, more expensive problems, such as an abscess.
• Failing to recognize oral cancer. A patient might accuse you of providing substandard care by failing to spot an early sign of oral cancer.
• Misdiagnosis. Patients could claim that you diagnosed a condition incorrectly, that you diagnosed it late, or that you failed to diagnose it at all.
• Nerve damage. Common claims allege that a dentist damaged the lingual nerve or inferior alveolar nerve, while giving anesthesia or removing teeth.
• Products liability. Dentists can be blamed for using faulty products, oral devices, and materials – even though the dentist did not manufacture the items.
• Questionable professional advice. Patients can claim that you failed to provide solid professional counsel. They can also claim that you failed to refer them to a specialist when it was necessary.

The best way to “win” a malpractice lawsuit is to stop it before it happens. Here are some tips that you can try in your office:

• Don’t avoid the Dental Board’s letter. At some point, you may receive an inquiry from your state’s Dental Board, which must investigate all complaints – even if they’re unfounded. You’ll need to cooperate with the Board, even if a claim is baseless, so it can reach a favorable conclusion. You should also notify your insurance provider, so it’s aware of the situation and can recommend legal counsel, if necessary.
• Communicate clearly with your patient before treatment. Never start treating patients until you are sure they understand exactly what you are going to do and the risks involved. Don’t just assume they have background knowledge of certain dental procedures. Speak plainly and encourage them to ask questions. You may even want to have your patients sign a consent form that states they understand the treatment and risks.
• Follow up with missed or cancelled appointments. Your office should have written protocols in place for following up with patients who miss or cancel an appointment – even if it’s just a six-month cleaning. A missed appointment means you might miss the opportunity to diagnose a condition as soon as possible, which leaves you vulnerable to claims of negligence.
• Stay in your comfort zone. If patients come to you with an issue that you aren’t comfortable diagnosing or treating, always refer them to a specialist that you trust. If you decide to go ahead with an extraction that ends up failing, patients (and their lawyers) can argue that a specialist would have been a safer route and that you should have known better.
• Keep track of medical histories. Your patients may have developed allergies or new medical conditions between visits that you’ll need to be aware of. Make sure you ask about any changes in their health care, and document this in your records.
• Keep accurate records. Do this even if that means recording the fact that you broke an instrument in a patient’s canal. Breaking the tip of the file in the canal does not violate a standard of care, but it should be noted both to the patient and in the patient’s file. If there is a complication or if the patient finds out about it later, the reaction could be surprise, anger, or a claim filed against your practice.
• Look for signs of oral cancer. If a patient develops any type of cancer in their mouth that you failed to identify, they might accuse you of failing to provide adequate care. Make sure you’re aware of the early signs of cancer and look for them with every patient as part of their dental health.
• Never erase anything in a patient’s chart. Not even mistakes. If you do accidentally record a mistake in a chart, simply cross it out and note that it is an error. If that patient sues later and your records are examined, it’s going to look suspicious if they were changed. For the same reason, you should never add information to a chart after a patient has filed a claim.

Despite all these precautions, it’s still a good idea for dentists to carry malpractice insurance, which is a type of professional liability insurance (also called errors and omissions insurance) for healthcare professionals.