EVALUATION OF ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGEONS' AND RESEARCH ASISSTANTS’ ATTITUDES OF DEFENSIVE DENTISTRY

Abstract

Objective
 The concept of defensive medicine practices can
 be described as the physicians primarily aiming to
 protect themselves from possible legal actions in
 clinical decision processes. At the point reached
 today, the increase in legal processes dealing with
 health practices causes physicians to use defensive
 medical practices more frequently in their clinical
 practice. The aim of this study is to investigate the
 defensive dentistry attitudes of oral and maxillofacial
 surgeons (OMFS) and research assistants and the
 factors affecting these attitudes.
 Materials and Methods
 146 OMFS specialists/research assistants working
 in various institutions were contacted between
 January-February 2021, and 63 dentists (43.1%),
 who responded by filling out the survey and met
 the inclusion criteria, were included in the study.
 The participants' age, gender, institution or private
 establishment where they operate, time spent
 in the physician-patient relationship, history of
 malpractice lawsuits, thoughts on whether they
 will face malpractice lawsuits in the next 10 years,
 and their level of knowledge on defensive dentistry
 were recorded. Inclusion criteria for the study were
 determined as having served at least 1 year in the
 field of OMFS and still being in a patient-physician
 relationship in this field.
 Results
 It was concluded that 47.6% of the physicians
 participating in the study applied defensive dentistry
 at a very high level, 41.3% at a high level, and
 11.1% at a moderate level, while the mean defensive
 dentistry score was found as 46.25 ±7.42. It has been
 determined that the mean defensive dentistry scores
 vary depending on the institution, litigation history and
 the anticipation of litigation in the next 10 years.
 Conclusion
 OMFS specialists and research assistants commonly
 practice defensive dentistry. On the other hand, it has
 been determined that OMFS specialists and research
 assistants do not have sufficient knowledge about
 the concept of defensive dentistry, therefore we think
 that including training on the concept of defensive
 dentistry in graduate or post-graduate programs
 would be beneficial.