An Article About Dental Malpractice Insurance
Dental malpractice insurance is an absolute must for every dental practice. Everyone can make mistakes, and whether you are trying to settle a claim that resulted from a fair mistake you made or defending against a frivolous legal action, a dental malpractice insurance company will stand in your shoes, process the claim, and pay any ensuing responsibility up to your insurance boundaries.
According to a risk administration survey released by the North American Dental Association, the procedure most frequently involved in paid dental malpractice insurance claims is a crown or bridge procedure. Of all of the claims filed, 21.8% concerned crowns and bridges, while twenty p.c. concerned root canals ; 13.6% concerned simple extractions ; 6.7% involved dentures; 5.7% involved surgical extractions; 5.1% concerned oral exams ; 2.9% concerned points related to dental implants ; 2.0% involved orthodontics; 1.4% involved periodontal surgery, and 20.8% concerned a selection of other treatments.
The even better news is that few claims less than one tenth of one p.c result in payments of $1 million or even more. The study found that most claims, 57.2%, involve less than $10,000 in damage payments. However, a full 5% of claims fall into the $100,000 to $249,000 payment range, and another 1.2% of claims were paid at $250,000 to $499,999.
So what went wrong with all these dental malpractice insurance claims? According to the study, in over 30% of patients, further curative dental treatment was needed. Other patients suffered a failed root canal, nerve injury, an object swallowed during a procedure, lost teeth, periodontal illness, extraction of the wrong tooth, a negative drug reaction, extreme pain, problems with the bite, failure of implants, cancer or a tumor, cuts or bruises, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problems, broken or fractured teeth, and disfigurement.
In most dental malpractice insurance claims cited by the study, the dentist was charged with failure to diagnose a condition. Other claims concerned performing a tasteless process, failing to get informed consent from the patient, failing to refer the patient to a specialist, treating the wrong tooth, complications with anesthesia, failing to communicate effectively with the patient's specialist, equipment failure, failing to accommodate the special needs of medically compromised patients, taking an inadequate health history, errors involving patient records, incorrect prescriptions, x-ray issues, abandonment, faulty performance of a dental employee, assault, sexual harassment, or guarantees. Dental malpractice insurance errors involving patient records included not documenting the treatment plan or the informed consent of the patient.
Tags: dental malpractice insurance, health malpractice insurance, malpractice insurance