The dentist makes mistakes too, but this doesn’t justify their actions of being negligent on their responsibilities as a dentist. They are expected to give standard dental care and treatment to patients. Failing to give such standard service can be a problem to you in the future that is why it better to be prepared and have a dental attorney when such a thing happens.
A dentist in Amarillo, Texas provided dental treatments to a female patient off and on from 2007 to on or about May 23, 2016. In 2013, following more than a three-year gap in treatment, the dentist documented that he performed the following dental treatments on the patient:
- 8-16-13: “FMX, 1 XB, UR SRP”.
- 9-6-13: “3 MOL all cavity G, UR prophy, and LR, LL, UL SRPs/polish”
- 9-13-13: “2 OL”.
No material is noted in the 2013 entries, and none of the entries have a signature or any identifying information regarding the provider. In addition, there is no Periodontal Chart or written diagnosis of periodontal disease to support the treatment of four quadrants of scaling and root planning performed on August 16, 2013, and September 6, 2013.
In 2016, following a gap in the treatment of approximately two and half years, the dentist documented that he performed the following dental treatments of patient R.F.:
- 2-10-16: “2 open Med”,
- 2-26-16: “UF cosmetic 6, 8, 9, B1”,
- 3-4-16: “15 Cavit white”,
- 3-L I-16: “15” but the description of services is illegible,
- 3-18-16: “21 O”, with no material noted,
- 4-1-16: “14 Surgical removals”,
- 4-15-16 “28 B composite B1”,
- 5-6-16 “12 DOL C”, and
- 5-23-16: “19 OC”,
The dentist’s dental records of the patient contain many entries that lack the name, initials, or identification number of the dentist or dental health professional who performed the service, next to the service performed.
The dentist’s dental records for the patient also fail to contain any diagnosis of conditions related to any of the treatments performed, any periodontal charts or charting by the dentist, or any documentation of the local anesthetic used or quantity of anesthetic used for treatments. In many cases, there is no documentation of the restorative material used.
In addition, the dental records do not include consent forms signed by the patient for the treatments performed.
On or about May 23, 2016, the last time the dentist treated the patient, she presented to the dentist to have her root canal finished. When she arrived, a male dental assistant brought the patient into a treatment room. The dentist told the assistant that he did not need him, and the assistant left the room, leaving the patient alone with the dentist. After the assistant left the room, the dentist reclined the dental chair all the way back, so that the patient was lying down. The dentist did not wear gloves. During the treatment, the dentist continually touched the patient’s breasts with his elbows, forearms, and arms, as he moved around her. The dentist reached around from behind the patient and put both of his arms on her chest and moved his elbows slowly around on her breasts. The dentist put his elbow on her right breast and rubbed her breast slowly with his elbow and then did the same thing on her left breast. The dentist was breathing heavily while doing this. As he moved around her, acting like he was trying to reach something in her mouth, he touched her breasts repeatedly. When the dentist took a break from drilling her tooth, he rested his arm on the patient’s chest. He called her “momma shon” or something to that effect. The patient felt uncomfortable, afraid, restrained. She thought the dentist’s touching was improper.
The incidents above put the dentist in a bad situation. The Board subjected the dentist to disciplinary action due to the dentist’s unprofessional conduct wherein he neglects to give standard dental care and treatment to the patient, inappropriately touching the patient and failing to properly provide his name, initials, or an identification number next to the services performed in the patient record.
The dentist even failed to hire a dental attorney to help him with the case he is facing. Don’t be like the dentist, you must know ways on how to face any cases such as hiring a dental attorney to effectively get the result you want.
Remember that a skilled dental attorney can greatly help you in major cases such as this. For assistance regarding your license case, it’s best to contact Dental Attorney Yong J. An by contacting him at (832) 428-5679.