Prevalence and content of legal suits founded on dental malpractice in the courts of midwest Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: The Brazilian work market of Dentistry became overloaded in the last decades. Consequently, the prevalence of legal suits involving dentists considerably increased. Malpractice arose as result of the vicious relations between patients and dentists. Objective: To report the prevalence rate of legal suits founded on dental malpractice in the Courts of Midwest Brazil. Material and Methods: A systematic search of civil jurisprudences related to dental malpractice litigance in Midwest Brazil was performed. A single examiner screened collected data based on the following parameters: 1) number of legal suits in each of the Courts; 2) sex of the involved parts; 3) dental specialty involved; 4) type of legal obligation; 5) modality of guilty; 6) type of damage; and 7) cost of financial claims. Results: Thirty-four jurisprudences were detected. Most of the jurisprudences were found in the Court of Justice of the Federal District (64%). Females consisted of the most involved part (79%). Endodontics was the most involved dental specialty (28%). Obligations of means (36%) and results (29%) were similarly distributed. Technical malpractice was the most prevalent modality of guilty (53%). Moral and material claims were observed in 33 and 28 cases, respectively. The mean financial cost for material claims was R$ 3.500,00, while for moral claims the cost was R$ 8.000,00. Conclusion: The current increase of legal suits involving dentists indicates that patients are becoming aware of their rights. Consequently, dentist must be aware of legal liabilities and ethical guidelines in order to avoid further litigations.