Common Forms of Dental Malpractice
Dental Malpractice can take many different forms, including but not limited to:
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Failure to diagnose a serious dental problem (leading a patient to avoid seeking treatment, and the problem worsening);
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Misdiagnosis of a dental problem (leading the patient to have the incorrect treatment for the problem);
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Performing an unnecessary dental treatment, such as root canal when the patient does not actually have decay, symptoms or pathology;
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Performing dental treatment on the wrong tooth, such as improper record keeping;
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Unnecessary tooth extraction;
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Incorrect administration of local anesthetic (leading to numbness, lack of taste or drooling);
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Causing nerve damage during a routine dental procedure;
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Failure to prescribe appropriate antibiotics after oral surgery or endodontic procedures (leading the patient to have an infection, complications or hospitalization);
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Using dental equipment that has been improperly sterilized and causes an infection.
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Failure to diagnose periodontal disease (leading the patient to have mobile teeth or necessity of extractions);
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Failure to take a proper medical history (leading the patient to have an allergic reaction to medication or serious medical complications);
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Failure to inform of broken instrument or foreign body, such as a separated root canal file (leading to pain, swelling and infection) and/or
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Failure to provide patient informed consent for dental treatment (leading the patient to accept unnecessary or unknown procedure risk).