Any individual suffers with an injury which has been apparently caused following a dental proceedure or after dental treatment, this may constitute an act of dental negligence by the dentist.

The Supreme Court of India has had a detailed look on the act of negligence and framed the following guidelines for liabilities toward dental negligence

Sense of Duty: A doctor is accountable when he sees the patient in an emergency and becomes duty bound when they agree to treat a patient.
Delinquency of duty: Dentists are mainly responsible for such an act which has lead to an injury through a sequence of unacceptable dental procedures which may include minor surgical procedure like tooth extractions etc.
Damage: The harm occurred because of dereliction of duty. Although a damage has occurred which is not life threatening, a patient cannot take any action under law against the doctor until and unless a doctor has deliberately committed an awful act costing patient to lose his/her livelihood. Thus, Patient has the liberty to approach the criminal court and defame the doctor for his obstinate conduct.
Direct damage: The detrimental effects on a patient has resulted from direct dereliction of duty by the dentist.

The act of negligence can be performed deliberately or unintentionally by a doctor or a patient. In this scenario, if a duty bound dentist does any performance on the dental chair that would cause any harm, injury or death then the dentist is solely responsible for such an act provided he/she has a strong defence against such an unfortunate incident.

A patient is responsible for an act of negligence when the fail to follow the dentist's advice, makes their own decisions against the prescribed treatment and does not turn up for a recall or follow-up or fails to follow the medicines which he was asked to take regularly. In these circumstances, these laws made in our constitution were either of the aggrieved parties can claim damages via civil litigations or punish the wrongdoers with criminal liabilities. Usually, it’s very difficult to prove an act of negligence on either of the parties, but only if the dentist is proven guilty of an act which they have committed on a dental chair will they be liable for legal action.

Also read: How to be a Good Dentist You’ll Smile About!

Circumstances where a dentist can find themselves in an unfortunate situation

Lack of communication and observation skills, where a dentist misses obtaining information during initial steps in case history recording
Casual attitude of the dentist when a patient presents with them with medical conditions like uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension
Lack of interpersonal skills, where a dentist is not able to take the patient into their confidence and perform certain steps which they may not be confident in
Making wrong diagnosis and knowingly selecting poor cases for complete mouth rehabilitation just for the sake of monetary gain
Going against the principles of dental ethics and working on targets, especially seen in chain of dental clinics
Planning for dental surgeries in underprivileged hospital setups, which may lack proper sterilisation, cleanliness, nursing and medical staff for assistance
Poor treatment planning and convincing patients to undergo dental surgeries without analysing the prognosis or outcome of the treatment. Especially noted under orthognathic surgeries and oral-nasopharyngeal cancer surgeries

In a dentist-patient relationship, the person who is entitled to receive any advice or treatment is always considered as dependent. Although a patient may or may not follow the advice given to them by the dentist, they may at anytime turn up to the dental office with an evil intention or a planned action just to defame our fellow dentist and make their life miserable. It is our duty to safeguard ourselves and our fellow dental/medical colleagues from fraudster patients who come up with an intention to do harm to the medical/dental health professionals.

There are civil and criminal laws and IPC sections like 304A, 336,337,338,420 etc, available in Indian judiciary to encounter any dreadful act committed either by the patient or the dentist. These laws and sections always rely on strong evidence, based on the available evidence, the patient or a dentist is prosecuted in Indian Penal Court. It’s not always right to think that our patients even if we have treated them and their families from years will never take action against their dentist who may commit an act of negligence. To give a final thought, any dentist at the worst scenario comes across such unfortunate litigations against them needs to understand the steps which will safeguard him from any legal battle.

Follow rules strictly on dental practice as recommended by the state dental council
Have a valid dental clinic licence
Renew the state dental registration periodically
Be aware that dental practice without a clinic licence is a criminal offence
Be specifically trained for medical emergencies in dental clinic
Mandatory storage of emergency drugs in dental clinic with portable oxygen cylinders
Undergo Specific CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) training
Keep all the patient dental records in a file or a case sheet with patients' signed informed consent