Civil liability: characterization of the demand for lawsuits against dentists

Abstract

In light of the fact that dentists may be held civilly liable for their practice, it is important to understand the current situation of lawsuits filed against these professionals by studying current legal decisions and the literature. The objective of this study was to analyze the case law of the Court of Justice of São Paulo, Brazil, relative to the profile of patients and professionals, the most commonly involved specialties, the amounts litigated and the court decisions pertaining to civil liability lawsuits against dentists. In an inductive approach, a single researcher screened and collected civil liability rulings by accessing the Court's website, and following a statistical-descriptive procedure and an indirect observation technique. The most frequently involved specialty was prosthodontics. However, oral and maxillofacial surgery was related to a higher incidence of damages awarded to settle claims and to higher damage amounts.

Analysis of Dental Case Reports in the Context of Court Decisions: Causal Nexus and Aspects of Fault

“…The result of 42.2% of legal entities as defendants agrees with the study by Zanin et al (20), which indicated 49.48% of legal entities in a survey conducted between May 2013 and April 2014. The predominance of legal entities as defendants was also verified in the study by Ferreira et al (24), 77.4%.…”

“…The percentage of faulty sentences was compatible with that found by Zanin et al. , 44.32% in 43 cases, L. Bjorndal & C. Reit , 43%, Castro et al. , 47%, Bouchardet et al.…”

“…The predominance of 82% of females as plaintiffs in lawsuits corroborated the percentages found by Zanin et al. , 74%, Rosa et al. , 73%, Castro et al.…”

“…Many studies about judicial decisions on dental civil liability have been conducted . However, Zanin et al.…”

Major Predictors of Late Mandibular Fracture in Third Molar Exodontia: A Review.

“…There are still no reports of late mandibular fracture after third molar extraction in the literature with Stafne bone cyst, with the most frequent lesions being dentigerous and radicular cyst 9,10. In other studies, half of the fractures occurred had associated cystic lesions, and most of the cases analyzed by Grau-Manclús (2011) were related to cysts or pericoronal capillary thickening of impacted third molars [11]. However, the longer the time of impacting the tooth, the greater the risk of developing cysts.…”