Importance and awareness of medico legal issues in dental practice… Alarm call

Abstract

Background: Dental Medicine is a noble profession but the dentist-patient relationship has transformed over the last two decades by upsurge anxiety in the community and dental profession regarding increasing trends of complaints and lawsuits against dentists. Purpose: Knowledge about ethics and medicolegal issues is fundamental to the dental practice as clinical skills. This review was done to evaluate the oral healthcare services, and to provide awareness that a dentist should follow certain protocol to avoid any litigation in the name of malpractice. Materials and Methods: In January 2017 an electronic search was done of published literature in PubMed, Medline, EBSCO host and data base. The search was focused on literature on medicolegal issues and medical negligence. The titles and abstracts related to review and available in English were screened. Results: Due to the scarcity of articles on this topic, all the articles related to search were included in the study. Conclusion: Consent is a fundamental and established principle in the Indian Law. Professional indemnity insurance also known as 'Defense Costs' will pay all the costs, fees, and expenses incurred with their prior consent in the investigation, defense, or settlement of any claim made against the insured.