Mitigating malpractice claims in dental implantology
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 1st September 2022
In recent years an increased awareness within the general public has developed surrounding legal issues in healthcare. This has led to a rise in malpractice cases by patients against dental professionals. Because of this, it is becoming increasingly vital that all practitioners ensure meticulous patient record keeping. The ability to produce and maintain complete dental records is not only important for optimising patient care, but it is a legal obligation and could offer dental professionals protection if faced with litigation.[i]
Implant dentistry presents a unique challenge. It is not yet part of the undergraduate curriculum and there are no specific qualifications that a dentist requires to start placing dental implants. Because of this, dentists must decide for themselves the appropriate level of training they will personally require to start providing the surgical and/or restorative procedure. This means that dentists who are looking to perform more advanced techniques, or become an expert in this area, will require a different level of dental implant training, than those new to the discipline.[ii] The growing popularity of dental implant treatment means that clinicians are more likely to come up against malpractice claims and patient complaints for this procedure than ever before, so it is essential that dentists are able to prove they have received adequate training for the solution they carry out.
Legal action against dental implant providers
With growth in demand for dental implants has come a rise in patient expectations for treatment. Managing and meeting these expectations is essential for patient satisfaction and minimal litigation.
Dentists who offer dental implants now enjoy high success rates, but failures or errors at any stage in treatment can quickly lead to complaints.[iii] Because dental implants are a significant investment for the patient in time and money, they expect an exceptional experience throughout the treatment journey. They may even expect outcomes that are unrealistic for their anatomy or situation, so all of this must be discussed with them ahead of time to ensure they know what can and cannot be achieved. Care must also be taken to make sure they understand the potential risks and complications, so they are less likely to complain about unavoidable issues that arise later.
Though function and durability play an important role, many patients initially tend to notice aesthetics following dental procedures, so it’s essential that the restorative phase of treatment meets their expectations as well as the surgical. There are many factors which may affect the aesthetic outcome. For example, it’s important to compensate for the lack of soft tissue attachment to dental implants and their components when compared to the natural tooth in order to avoid a greyish colour being visible at the gingival margin.[iv] Soft tissue and papilla management are also key.
Alongside aesthetic factors, the most common complaints regarding dental implant treatment either occur as a result of poor treatment planning or a failure to diagnose peri-implantitis. Creating a comprehensive treatment plan will help you to prevent problems at all stages of treatment, minimising the likelihood of complaints. It is also essential for dental teams to monitor dental implants closely for signs of peri-implantitis, and work with the patient to ensure high standards of dental hygiene are maintained.ii
Mitigating legal action
There are several ways dental professionals can mitigate and reduce the consequences of legal action being brought against them. These include indemnity, the ability to prove adequate dental implant training, and maintaining detailed and extensive clinical records.[v] Doing everything in your power to document your work will aid in protecting you should any claims be brought against you. If you are able to prove that you are sufficiently trained in your area of work, that you provided appropriate assessment and diagnosis, and created a suitable treatment plan for the patient, you will be in a strong position to defend yourself and prevent a claim from escalating.
Time saving and patient care
The importance of extensive record keeping cannot be overstated, however, it may feel unproductive if it begins to overtake much of your time at work. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) may have the capability to streamline routine work and increase the face-to-face time a dentist has with patients.[vi] Implementing AI within record keeping has the potential to free up time and increase productivity and accuracy.
When you become an Association of Dental Implantology (ADI) member, you unlock a world of benefits. These include access to dental implantology education, conferences, and Kiroku – a digital note taking solution designed to help clinicians improve the quality and efficiency of their dental records.[vii] Kiroku offers a smart solution for note taking, making sure you won’t miss any details. It uses AI to learn your style and offers the ADI curated template for all ADI members for free, which is customisable for each patient. For every case type, Kiroku will give you specific prompts, only asking you to input relevant information and ensure that nothing is missed or duplicated on the patients record.
The ability for dental professionals to fulfil their legal requirements by taking complete notes, and without spending extensive amounts of time on note taking is a huge benefit. This would allow more time for conversations with patients, free up time for carrying out treatment, and allow dentists to see more patients per day. Practitioners can feel assured that they have done all they can to deliver exceptional patient care, while giving them peace of mind should a complaint ever be raised.
For more information about the ADI, or to join, please visit the website www.adi.org.uk
Aurthor: Amit Patel – President of The Association of Dental Implantology (ADI) is registered with the General Dental Council as a specialist in periodontics. His special interests are dental implants, regenerative and aesthetic periodontics. Amit graduated from the University of Liverpool and completed a four year specialist training programme in Periodontics at Guy’s, King’s & St Thomas’ Dental Institute.
[i] Sawhney, Surbhi, et al. “Patient record and communication in interdisciplinary dentistry.” Journal of Interdisciplinary Dentistry 4.2 (2014): 62. https://www.jidonline.com/article.asp?issn=2229-5194;year=2014;volume=4;issue=2;spage=62;epage=65;aulast=Sawhney
[ii] Importance of clinical record keeping. Increasing levels of litigation in uk.
Wood, Ian. “Implant dentistry.” Primary dental journal 2.2 (2013): 5-5. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1308/205016813806144191
[iii] Palmer, R. M. “Risk management in clinical practice. Part 9. Dental implants.” British Dental Journal 209.10 (2010): 499-506.
[iv] Zanin AA, Herrera LM, Melani RF. Civil liability: characterization of the demand for lawsuits against dentists. Brazilian Oral Research. 2016 Aug;30(1):S1806-83242016000100276. DOI: 10.1590/1807-3107bor-2016.vol30.0091. PMID: 27556556. https://www.scielo.br/j/bor/a/8njjNnScdJP6hmQmyZ8Qq5g/?format=pdf&lang=en
[v] Rees, Jonathan. “Medicolegal implications of dental implant therapy.” Primary dental journal 2.2 (2013): 34-38. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1308/205016813806144227
[vi] Schwendicke, Fet al, W. Samek, and J. Krois. “Artificial intelligence in dentistry: chances and challenges.” Journal of dental research 99.7 (2020): 769-774.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022034520915714
[vii] Association of Dental Implantology. Take back your time with Kiroku. (Date accessed 28.06.22) https://www.adi.org.uk/resources/kiroku.aspx
