Generally the process of identifying a valid Dental Malpractice claim involves proving that the dental care provider committed some act of negligence that falls below the acceptable standard of care usually applied by other similarly qualified dental care providers in a similar care provision situation.
Dentist Requirements
To generally comply with the accepted standard in providing dental treatment care a competent dentist is required to:
- Take a comprehensive medical history of the patient, specific enough to include congenital heart disease and migraine headache with possible etiology in to TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint) disorder.
- Perform clinical examination and tests, including identification of any oral pathology including disease screening of patients at risk for periodontal disease and document the status of the dentition and periodontium in every patient.
- Construct a treatment plan and schedule of proposed fees
- Maintain a patient record in a confidential manner and include all clinically pertinent decisions, diagnosis and treatment plans, informed consent documents or patient refusal documents.
To specifically comply with the accepted standard of care in providing dental care to you addressing your dental treatment needs a competent dentist is required to:
Giving Consent for Dental Treatments
Obtain your informed consent to a proposed treatment prior to engaging in that treatment. You must fully understand and consent to the treatment suggested before the dentist begins that treatment on you. Often your consent must be in contained in a signed writing.
- Perform all dental procedure in a safe, clean environment using clean, safe equipment and tools to prevent infection, exposure to contagious disease, and toxic or allergic reaction.
- Provide you with a correct and accurate diagnosis supported by all applicable tests and clinical evaluations.
- Offer and provide you with reasonable and generally accepted procedures of dental care and treatment to resolve your specific dental treatment need on a timely basis.
If your dental care provider has failed to comply with the general standard of care as above and the specific standard of care as above and you have suffered a treatment related injury it is highly likely that your provider has deviated from the acceptable standard of care required of him in providing dental treatment to you. In short, he has been negligent in providing care to you and he may be liable to you for the injury the treatment related you have suffered.
Filing a Dental Malpractice Lawsuit and Recovering Damages
If you can show that your dental treatment provider failed to comply with the standard of care required of him in providing dental care and treatment to you then you have already taken a major step in proving your dental malpractice case against him. An injured patient would need to then contact a dental malpractice attorney to discuss his treatment related injuries, the costs of the original improper, injurious dental treatment and the cost of accessing corrective dental treatments such as dental implants to replace lost teeth or cosmetic dentistry to repair problematic results caused by the original dental injury. Some injuries may be far more significant and involve major heart injury and other severe health related adverse events. Many times a medical malpractice attorney will be able to adequately address severe injuries in a claim involving adverse medical events arising pursuant to dental treatments falling below the acceptable standard of care required of a dental care provider such as a heart attack caused by the anesthesia employed during dental treatment or similar event
