Dental Malpractice –Common Reasons that Could Lead to a Lawsuit
Medical records analysis is vital in dental malpractice cases. Read about the common reasons that could trigger a dental malpractice lawsuit.
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Dentists, orthodontists, and oral surgeons can be held liable for medical malpractice if a patient they treat is injured or harmed through provision of sub-standard care. Dental professionals use precise diamond-tipped and other sharp instruments in sensitive areas of the patient’s mouth. This calls for great attention on the part of the provider when performing a procedure. In fact, dental professionals have a legal duty to their patients to concentrate on what they are doing consistently. If the patient is harmed in any regard, they stand the risk of a malpractice claim which would necessitate medical records analysis among other investigations. Patients may sue the dentist to obtain compensation for their dental expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages and attorney fees. Dental Malpractice – Major Reasons
Dental malpractice may result from failure to diagnose or provide treatment for a dangerous condition, negligent dental work, delayed diagnosis, delayed provision of treatment required, and so on. Other causes for a dental malpractice lawsuit are: •
Improper use of dental instruments
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Faulty administration of anesthesia
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Improper extraction of teeth
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Not properly examining the patient to identify the dental disorder
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Misdiagnosis
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Unnecessary treatment including unnecessary surgery
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Patient harm from nerve damage to the face, jaw, lips or tongue
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Not properly supervising the actions of dental office employees such as dental hygienists
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Failure to refer to a specialist
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Failure to provide proper treatment for complications such as infection
What Is Needed to Bring a Dental Malpractice Case
The injured patient will have to establish aspects such as •
That a dentist-patient relationship exists
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•
The proper medical standard of care under the circumstances – this signifies the level and type of care that a dental professional in the community, with the same skills would have provided under the same treatment circumstances. This fact is usually established by a qualified expert medical witness retained by the plaintiff’s attorney.
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How the above standard of care was compromised, resulting in patient harm. The plaintiff will have to prove how the dentist caused the injury or aggravated an existing condition by his/her action or inaction.
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The nature and severity of the patient’s injury.
While it is important that the dentist provides the patient with the acceptable standard of dental care, he/she cannot provide the patient with any additional services that are outside of the patient’s informed consent. If the dental practitioner fails to adhere to this, the patient may file a dental malpractice lawsuit. Like other injury lawsuits, there is a statute of limitations or time limit to file the case. Typically, medical malpractice claims have a two and a half years statute of limitations period. This period begins from the moment the dentist committed the act of medical negligence. Various rules are applicable as regards the statute of limitations, as for example, the continuous treatment doctrine and for circumstances wherein a foreign object was accidentally left inside a patient. The injured patient may get more time to file a lawsuit under the continuous treatment doctrine. If the dental practitioner commits an act of medical negligence and continues to treat that patient for the condition related to the negligence, the patient will have one year from the date of the last medical visit with the accused doctor to begin the lawsuit. However, the statute of limitations may vary from state to state.
For a successful dental malpractice claim, there should be an actual injury that causes longterm pain. It must involve negligence on the part of the dentist. A patient cannot bring a lawsuit against the dentist just because he/she is unhappy with the dental work results. Medical/dental records are one of the most important considerations in a dental malpractice case.
These documents must contain a clear chronology of the medical events, future
treatment plans, and all major communications between the dentist and the patient. A review of these medical records preferably with the support of a medical review service, would provide a clear view of the case to the plaintiff as well as the defense attorney. Inconsistencies, missing pages, ambiguous documentation etc. in the dental record will prove
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detrimental to the dental practitioner. These dental records are also vital to help establish damages because they show the treatments the patient received, why he/she received them, and how much they cost. Moreover, they help determine the prognosis so that future medical expenses can be estimated.
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