Written Consent
Consent must be in writing when any of the following may occur.
· New drugs are to be used
· Experimentation or clinical testing is involved
· A recognizable patient photo is to be used
· General anesthetic is to be used
· Minor children are going to be treated in a public program
o Like the kids that come to LCC clinic from local schools
· Treatment will take more than 1 year to complete
Dentist Must Not Abandon their Patient's
A dentist MUST have coverage when he/she is out of town or otherwise unavailable to his/her patient's "of record". This does not include any possible new patients or patients who have never been seen by the dentist and may walk by the office hoping for emergency treatment.
As a scheduler in a dental office it can be a problem to find a space to place emergency patients of record in a very busy schedule. But when there is a patient in pain or who has had an accident, the dentist must find a time for them in the schedule. It is recommended that there be a 15 minute space saved in the morning and afternoon schedule to place emergency patients. This does not mean that the dentist has to treat whatever the problem is that day, but they can get the patient out of pain, diagnose the treatment needed, and effectively schedule the patient for treatment as soon as possible.
Withdrawals from a case:
Even if patient has not paid for their previous treatments, the dentist cannot abandon them by denying treatment or even by telling then there are no openings for the next few weeks or months. Avoidance is no more legal than denial of service when it comes to patient abandonment by their dentist.
This doesn't mean that a dentist is destined to treat a patient forever, who will not pay for the agreed upon services, or is not in compliance with the recommended care. A dentist may withdraw from the care of a patient under the right circumstances.
If a dentist chooses to withdraw from the care of a patient, they cannot do so in the middle of treatment, unless they meet at least three of the criteria below. Treatment is considered to be completed when a treatment plan is finished. This means that if a patient has 3 fillings that need to be completed at future appointments, they are still in the middle of treatment.
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