If a person is going to sue a dentist for medical malpractice, he must be able to prove to a judge or jury that he suffered an injury because of a dentist’s provision of sub-standard care.
One of the most important defenses in a dental malpractice case is proper documentation. The patient’s dental record must contain a clear chronology of events, future treatment plans, and all the important communication between the dentist and patient. Commonly dental malpractice lawsuits arise from several reasons.
The most common alleged negligence was due to endodontic procedures. The complications included instruments justify in canals, nerve and sinus perforations, air embolisms, and life-threatening infections, including four fatalities. Of the life-threatening infections, seven were due to brain abscesses, and one due to osteomyelitis. Of these eight infections, four were fatalities and the other four resulted in irreversible brain damage.
In the implant loss subset, two to 10 implants were lost, and treatment planning was alleged to be deficient to non-existent. The patient with the post-operative infection succumbed to the infection. In 24 of the negligence claims involving dental implant surgery, the defendants were general dentists, and one was a periodontist.
There were 19 cases of failure to diagnose or treat periodontal disease in a timely fashion. All defendants were general dentists. In most of these cases, X-rays were not taken routinely, and periodontal probing were rarely or never recorded.
The above-mentioned cases clearly show that dental malpractice can be filed when a patient feels that he has fallen victim to any of these dental issues. If you every experience anything similar contact an oc dental malpractice lawyer as soon as possible.
