CHAPTER 12 Informed concept consist of three phases

MEDICOLEGAL CONSIDERATION 1. informing

Legal Conceptions Influencing Liability
 To understand the value and responsibility of
the dentist in risk management
Malpractice
 legal system as professional negligence
 occurs when treatment provided by the dentist
fails to comply with the standard care exercised
by the other similarly trained dentist in similar
situation
Professional Negligence – occurs when professional fail
to have or exercise the degree of judgement and skill
ordinarily possessed and demonstrated by members of
their profession practicing under similar circumstances.
 The dentist is considered to have practice
negligently when a patient or his or her dental
expert(s) convince a judge or jury that such a
failure caused an injury
Standard of Care – defined as to which an ordinarily
skilled, educated, and experience dentist would do ( or
not do ) under similar circumstances
Patient must prove all of the following four elements of
a malpractice
1. Duty – usually implied by the doctor-patient
relationship
2. Breach of Duty – in malpractice, not practicing
up to the standard of care
3. Damages – in nonlegal terms, an injury
4. Causation – causal connection between the
failure to meet the standard of care and the
injury
2. written consent
3. documentation in the patients chart
Material risk – requires dentist to discuss all aspects
materials to the patients decision to undergo
treatment, even if it is not customary in the profession
to provide such information
Obtaining informed consent
1. specific problem
2. proposed treatment
3. anticipated or common side effect
4. possible complication or approximate frequency
of occurrence
5. planned anesthesia and any material risks of the
anesthesia
6. treatment alternatives
7. uncertainties about final outcome, including a
statement that the planned treatment has no
absolute guarantees of success
Patients information and Office Communication
Informed Consent
Records and Documentation
Electronic Records

Risk Reduction
 Ensuring effective dentist-patient and staff
communication
 Patient information
 Informed consent
 Proper documentation
 Appropriate management of complications

Battery
 treatment without proper informed consent
 intentionally touching a person without his or
her consent