Negligence And Malpractice

What Dentists Should Know About A Dentist Malpractice Lawsuit

If a dentist were to breach the acceptable standard of conduct or care provided to a patient, risk of dentist malpractice lawsuit would be high.  To a potential patient, they deserve to know the background of anyone providing medical care and obviously, if a dentist is going to be doing things inside the mouth, knowing that person’s history is critical.

After all, when patients look for a dentist, someone who will maintain a healthy mouth and provide a beautiful smile, they want to have confidence in that medical professional.  Whenever a dentist malpractice lawsuit is filed, it means this medical professional was involved with some type of misconduct or was negligence in the level and type of care provided.  Keep in mind, people in certain careers are held to a much higher standard to include law enforcement officials, lawyers, and all medical professionals.

Interestingly, the number of cases for a dentist malpractice lawsuit increased after the 1970s, with large damages being awarded to the patients.  Some experts believe the reason for the sudden increase had to do with more people becoming aware they had recourse if something happened, but also a greater number of attorneys practicing medical malpractice.  At that tie, there were a large number of lawsuits against dentists. Unfortunately, because there was such a sharp rise in these cases that insurance companies had no choice but to increase premiums and in fact, some insurers had to drop coverage for dentist malpractice along with other medical professionals.

When a dentist malpractice lawsuit is filed, it is listed as a tort of negligence in most cases.  When this happens, it means that the conduct of the dentist was less than the established legal standard in protecting the patient against risk of harm.  For a patient to have success in winning a lawsuit against a dentist, it would need to be proved that he or she violated a “reasonable standard of care.”  A prime example would be a dentist drilling out a tooth because of a cavity but failing to fill it.

Today, most states have taken the “locality rule” and modified it into an evaluation of the “standard of practice” in the same local area.  In addition, the court would look at the medical science behind the care to determine if a dentist malpractice lawsuit could be formally filed.  After all, before a dentist lawsuit can go to court or even to trial, certain criteria would need to be met.

For the prosecuting attorney to accept a dentist malpractice lawsuit, the standard of practice for this type of medical care would be looked at in the general geographic location to see if the dentist had provided care considered out of the “normal” acceptable range.  In addition, the prosecuting attorney would make sure the lawsuit could be supported from a medical science standpoint, meaning the dentist did not follow appropriate steps established in providing proper care.

Now, if the dentist in question were found to be within the range for standard of care, the dentist malpractice lawsuit would be dismissed.  On the other hand, if negligence were found, the case would go forward.  During court or the trial, it would be expected for both parties to have expert testimony, arguing the two sides of the case.  Depending on the state where the dentist malpractice lawsuit is filed, the “respectable minority rule” may apply, which means the dentist would be exempt from liability if he or she had chosen to use a technique used only by a few reputable dentists.

Finally, some states will also follow what is known as the “error in judgment rule”, which states if the dentist has a solid record of excellent care, meeting professional standards for dentistry but simply had an error in judgment, he or she would be found innocent of malpractice.  Of course, a dentist malpractice lawsuit is not just for negligent errors and negligence in professional services, but also for disputes regarding fees.