Dentistry Resources

Jun 11, 2025
Dental Closed Claims Study: Leveraging Data to Enhance Clinical Judgment and Patient Safety
Jacqueline Ross, PhD, RN, Coding Director; Robin Wessels, MBA, RN, CPHRM, Vice President, Patient Safety and Risk Management; and Nichole M. Pieters, MS, RN, CPHRM, Patient Safety Risk Manager II, The Doctors Company
In the world of dentistry, where many clinicians operate independently, the true incidence of adverse events can be obscured. By systematically analyzing a group of closed malpractice claims, researchers can identify significant trends and underlying risk factors that may otherwise go unnoticed. This study draws on the distinctive dataset provided by The Doctors Company to conduct a comprehensive review of dental malpractice claims, offering evidence-based insights to support targeted improvements in patient safety and clinical outcomes.

Professional Education
Prevention of Dental Errors 2024 to 2026
Few dental errors are attributed to faulty judgment. More commonly, they are attributed to system failures inherent in healthcare delivery. By drawing on our professional liability closed claims data, we have identified common performance and diagnostic errors. The purpose of this continuing dental education activity is to provide dentists with the most current information regarding the prevention of common performance and diagnostic errors.
2.0 credits

Feb 24, 2025
Addressing Challenging Situations in a Dental Setting
This patient safety and risk management guide offers expert insights and strategies to help you address common challenges in the dental setting.

Feb 17, 2025, FDA Storm Proof: Plan for Every Possible Path
Disaster Preparedness for Your Dental Practice
Julie M. Brightwell, BSN, JD, RN, CPHRM, Director, Patient Safety, The Doctors Company, part of TDC Group, provides disaster preparedness recommendations for dental practices.

Jan 15, 2025
Job Shadowing: Observers, Volunteers, and Students in Clinical Settings
Richard F. Cahill, JD, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, The Doctors Company
Create guidelines to prevent practice risks, eliminate patient harm, and protect patient privacy.

Dec 09, 2024
Is Your Patient a Victim of Human Trafficking?
Patti L. Ellis, RN, CPHRM, FASHRM, Patient Safety Risk Manager II, The Doctors Company, Part of TDC Group
Although trafficking victims rarely find opportunities to interact with others, a visit to a physician or dental practice may provide an opportunity for a victim to receive help. Learn to recognize the signs of human trafficking and know what steps to take.

Nov 20, 2024
Handling Requests for Refunds in the Dental Practice Setting
Nichole M. Pieters, MS, RN, CPHRM, Patient Safety Risk Manager II, The Doctors Company, Part of TDC Group
Managing a patient’s request for a refund requires caution and a measured response.

Nov 15, 2024
Defensible Medical and Dental Records
Richard F. Cahill, JD, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, The Doctors Company, Part of TDC Group
Patient records, which serve a critical function in healthcare delivery and routine clinical operations, can provide key evidence in the event of a professional liability action.

Apr 08, 2024
Minor Consent: Challenges for Pediatric Dentistry
Richard F. Cahill, JD, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, and Patti L. Ellis, RN, CPHRM, Patient Safety Risk Manager II, The Doctors Company, Part of TDC Group
Identifying a minor patient’s legal guardianship and parental rights prior to initial treatment can help dental practitioners reduce risk.

Feb 29, 2024
Providing Dental Services in the Hospital Setting
Susan Boisvert, BSN, MHSA, Senior Patient Safety Risk Manager, and Nichole M. Pieters, MS, RN, Patient Safety Risk Manager II, The Doctors Company, Part of TDC Group
Lack of familiarity with hospital systems and medical staff rules may pose risk management implications for dental care professionals. These strategies can help practitioners navigate the hospital environment.

Jan 26, 2024
Reduce the Risk of Wrong-Site and Wrong-Tooth Dental Procedures
Sue Boisvert, BSN, MHSA, Senior Patient Safety Risk Manager, The Doctors Company, Part of TDC Group
Wrong-site procedures are a common problem in dentistry. A wrong tooth extraction can be prevented with the use of proper protocols, including confirmed communication with referring dentists and documentation of verbal discussions with patients.

Dec 10, 2023
Should Dentists in One Office Have One Malpractice Insurer?
Laura Archer, Vice President of Underwriting for The Doctors Company
One often-overlooked strategy for a group practice is having all dental professionals covered by the same malpractice insurer: With a group policy, a practice can keep up with changes, avoid damaging conflicts, maximize chances for desirable outcomes when claims arise—and even potentially realize a positive impact on premium.

Professional Education
Safe Opioid Prescribing for Physicians and Dentists
This enduring activity meets controlled substances requirements for a national audience (not state-specific). Opioids play an important role in pain management—both in the acute and the chronic setting, but a variety of causes have contributed to an opioid-related epidemic leading to addiction and death. There has also been substantial misuse of opioids by prescription and by diversion. With the spotlight on the epidemic guidelines, regulations, studies, and solutions are emerging, including recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that can address the epidemic and allow for effective and appropriate use of these drugs.
2.5 credits

Professional Education
Safe Opioid Prescribing for Physicians and Dentists: Florida Edition
This enduring program meets current Florida-specific controlled substance requirements. Opioids play an important role in pain management—both in the acute and the chronic setting, but a variety of causes have contributed to an opioid-related epidemic leading to addiction and death. There has also been substantial misuse of opioids by prescription and by diversion. With the spotlight on the epidemic guidelines, regulations, studies, and solutions are emerging, including recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that can address the epidemic and allow for effective and appropriate use of these drugs.
2.5 credits

Professional Education
Missed Medical History Leads to Adverse Outcome (Claims Corner)
The Doctors Company has identified patient assessment issues and communication failure between providers as key contributors to malpractice claims. This dental case study describes how inadequate patient history taking and poor communication can lead to an adverse patient outcome. The lessons learned in this course are applicable to all healthcare professionals.
0.5 credit

Professional Education
Empowering Patients Through Open Clinical Notes
This course focuses on the 21st Century Cures Act mandate for interoperability to support patients’ access to their health information. To comply with the information blocking rule, healthcare providers must ensure that they are not engaging in practices that constitute information blocking, such as restricting access to patient electronic health information, imposing unreasonable fees for EHI access, or failing to respond to requests for EHI in a timely manner.
0.5 credit

Professional Education
Patient Termination
This brief audio presentation will give healthcare providers information on how to mitigate their risk when terminating a patient relationship. The key topics covered include establishing patient expectations, what to do when expectations aren’t being met, special circumstances to consider prior to termination, and finally, the elements of the termination notice.
0.5 credit

Sep 02, 2023
Referral and Negligent Referral in a Dental Practice
We outline actionable strategies to help dental professionals keep patients safe and avoid potential liability when referring patients to specialty providers.

Sep 01, 2023
Management of Treatment Complications in Dentistry
When treatment complications occur, it is often how the situation is handled that determines the outcome for both the patient and the healthcare provider. These strategies can help dental professionals enhance safety and mitigate risk.

Sep 01, 2023
Medical Emergencies in the Dental Setting
We present a compelling case example and outline risk management strategies that can help practices prepare for medical emergencies.

Sep 01, 2023
Dental Case Studies
The case studies presented here provide insights into closed claim scenarios that can help dental professionals enhance their practices as they mitigate risks.

Sep 01, 2023
Unethical Treatment Leads to Lawsuit and Dental Board Action
Our analysis and risk management discussion of a case involving allegations of unethical treatment includes strategies to help dental professionals avoid becoming the focus of an investigation or claim.

Sep 01, 2023
Process Failures Lead to Patient Harm in Dentistry
We outline important strategies for documenting the clinical justification for any alternative treatment plan, obtaining informed consent, and providing follow-up care.

Sep 01, 2023
Oversedation and Failure to Resuscitate in Dentistry
This case discussion covers risk management issues involving sedation and provides strategies to help practices keep patients safe.

Sep 01, 2023
Responding to Requests for Dental Records and the Consequences of Refusing
This risk management discussion can help dental professionals avoid complaints, investigations, and sanctions when they respond to dental record requests.

Sep 01, 2023
Inappropriate Dental Care and Delegation During Use of Conscious Sedation Lead to Patient Death
Our discussion of a tragic case includes strategies to help dental professionals avoid patient injury when performing a treatment or procedure involving sedation or anesthesia.

Sep 01, 2023
Poor Response to Patient Concerns Contributes to Dental Claim
We offer actionable strategies that can help dental professionals enhance communication and documentation skills.

Sep 01, 2023
Failure to Diagnose and Refer Results in Court and Dental Board Action
This case explores the issues surrounding a misdiagnosis claim and outlines steps to help dental professionals avoid these types of allegations.

Sep 01, 2023
Documentation and Scope of Practice Issues in Dentistry
We analyze a case resulting in patient injuries and provide strategies that address documentation and staff protocols.

Professional Education
Risk Management 101 for Healthcare Professionals: Malpractice, Patient Relations, and Documentation
This is an introductory level course about basic risk management for practicing clinicians focusing on malpractice, patient communication, and documentation. Healthcare professionals new to practice and more experienced will learn the legal elements of a malpractice claim that must be proven for a plaintiff to prevail. We share communication strategies to enhance patient understanding, compliance, and satisfaction while reducing the risk of abandonment when ending patient relationships. We address the importance of documentation, share open notes strategies for success, and strategies to demonstrate quality of care and reduce risk. Documentation examples are provided, as are tips for electronic health record (EHR) and telehealth documentation.
1.5 credits

Professional Education
Anesthesia Care: Preventing Dental Injury
Dental injury claims continue to make up almost a quarter of all anesthesiology claims (22 percent) with over 30 percent of tooth damage claims resulting in indemnity payments to the plaintiff. Due to the frequent occurrence of dental injury claims, anesthesia professionals must be aware of dental injury causes, preventive measures, and steps to take if injury occurs. 0.75 credits

Oct 18, 2022
Moderate or Conscious Sedation in the Office Setting
Julie Brightwell, JD, RN, Director, Healthcare System Patient Safety, Department of Patient Safety and Risk Management
Prevent patient injury when providing moderate sedation in the office by incorporating these patient safety and practice improvement strategies.

Professional Education
Reducing the Risk of a Malpractice Claim
This enduring program is designed to assist physicians, dentists, and advanced practice clinicians, improve patient safety by providing information on how to implement a root cause analysis (RCA2) when a near-miss, or injury has been identified. Real cases serve as examples of how sustainable change can minimize human and environmental factors while decreasing system failures and reducing the risk of a malpractice claim.
1.0 credit

Jun 22, 2022
Patient Safety in Dentistry: Communication
Sue Boisvert, BSN, MHSA, DFASHRM, Senior Patient Safety Risk Manager, The Doctors Company
Effective communication improves teamwork and creates a safer environment for patients. It can also enhance patient engagement and satisfaction and reduce the risk of professional liability claims, even if an adverse event occurs.

Jun 22, 2022
Patient Safety in Dentistry Series
The articles in this three-part series provide strategies to help dental professionals enhance communication and documentation skills and manage adverse events in a practice setting.

Jun 22, 2022
Patient Safety in Dentistry: Documentation
Sue Boisvert, BSN, MHSA, DFASHRM, Senior Patient Safety Risk Manager, The Doctors Company
The primary purpose of documentation is to create an orderly chronological record of the clinical decision-making process, treatment provided, and patient responses. Records that are incomplete or inaccurate may lead to inappropriate treatment and patient harm.

Jun 22, 2022
Patient Safety in Dentistry: Managing Adverse Events in the Practice Setting
Sue Boisvert, BSN, MHSA, DFASHRM, Senior Patient Safety Risk Manager, The Doctors Company, and Jon Pellett, Attorney, Pennington, PA
When an adverse event occurs in a dental practice, providers and staff must be prepared to respond appropriately. A well-managed response includes caring for the patient, investigating the event, taking necessary action, and reporting the event appropriately as required.

Aug 25, 2020
Distracting Devices in Healthcare: Malpractice Implications
Shelley Rizzo, MSN, CPHRM, Senior Patient Safety Risk Manager, The Doctors Company
Digital distraction in healthcare is a threat to patient safety and physician well-being. Personal electronic devices can create a digital distraction so engaging that it consumes awareness, potentially preventing healthcare providers from focusing on the primary task at hand—caring for and interacting with patients.

Aug 27, 2019
Electronic Health Records Continue to Lead to Medical Malpractice Suits
Darrell Ranum, JD, Vice President of Patient Safety and Risk Management
We analyzed 216 medical malpractice claims that closed from 2010 to 2018 in which EHRs contributed to patient injury. The pace of these claims grew, from a low of seven cases in 2010 to an average of 22.5 cases per year in 2017 and 2018. As EHRs approach near-universal adoption, they may become a more prevalent source of patient safety risk.