Home > Blog > How Dentists Get Sued for Malpractice

It’s not uncommon for people to erroneously consider dentists to be somewhat safe from being sued for malpractice. In reality, dentists are medical professionals and, because there are established standards of care, they can be sued for malpractice. Dental negligence can lead to serious injuries and even death, in some cases, and many people who do sue have very good reasons to do so.

According to an article in Dentistry IQ there are some procedures that tend to result in malpractice lawsuits more than others. For example, complications due to extractions are the most frequent reasons that people file lawsuits. People suffer TMJ injuries, perforated sinuses, infections that require hospitalization, and other complications, according to the article, and these are frequently the reasons that people choose to file lawsuits. When you look at these, they’re not much different from the reasons why people file lawsuits against physicians.

Endodontic procedures are the second most common reason behind negligence lawsuits. People who filed these lawsuits mostly filed them because they ended up contracting an infection that require hospitalization and, in the time period measured – 12 years prior to the publication of the article – four people actually died because of those infections. Having instruments broken off in canals was the second most common reason that people sued and nerve damage was the third.

These are very similar to the reasons why physicians get sued. Surgeons sometimes leave tools behind in the body, dentists sometimes break off tools in a tooth canal. Talking to a lawyer is the best move you can make if you believe a dentist is guilty of malpractice and you want to recover compensation.

http://www.dentistryiq.com/articles/wdj/print/volume-2/issue-8/you-and-your-practice/a-review-of-dental-negligence.html