There are 3 requirements for withdrawal of service by the dentist (can withdraw before completion of treatment if all 3 are met):
· Must be in writing to withdraw from a case or patient
o Should include the following information: why, date, effective date, treatment plan if needed and why, offer to refer to another dentist and make their records available (dentist may charge for the service), dentist signature.
o Verbal notification is not acceptable.
· Letter must be sent certified and return receipt required
· Copy of the letter and receipt from the certified mail should be kept in patient records/chart.
REVIEW pg 71 for all patient withdrawal letter contents.
The Dentist Must Achieve a Reasonable Result
Perfect treatment is not expected by most people, but some patients will always anticipate a certain result no matter whether you explain what to expect or not.
A dentist treatment results must compare with what a patient would get at another dentist of the same specialty and under the same circumstance.
It is extremely important that the Dentist and the Auxiliaries never make guarantees regarding results!!!! Results depend on the dentists abilities (for example some are more artistic than others), the patients compliance, and the very nature of teeth themselves to react to being cut upon.
Part of consent is informing the patient of risks or making them aware of possible difficulties. This helps the patient to have realistic expectations.
Unrealistic Expectations: Despite the dentist's best efforts, there will always be patients who have a picture in their mind of what their teeth will look like when the dentist is done with treatment.
This is a common problem with people who get a new set of dentures or a new partial denture. They expect to see the same person in the mirror that they saw the last time they had perfect beautiful teeth. Dentures cannot restore youth. Patients who are new to dentures also must be advised that their new teeth will not be a replacement for their natural dentition. Every new denture patient has a learning curve when it comes to speaking and pronouncing words as well as eating. These patients will also loose out on a lot of the taste and flavor of their food that is enhanced by the natural tissue that will now be covered by the plastic denture. Recently I heard about a case where a patient had had the flu and vomited his denture into the toilet without realizing it. He flushed the toilet. Once he realized what had happened he wanted his dentist to give him another denture for free, because the dentist had not warned him about vomiting with a denture in place and the possibility of it coming out during the act.
A frequent source of lawsuits seen by a local attorney is patients expecting perfect white teeth with just a cleaning. This is not realistic. Patient's teeth have very individual color and stain. Some stain is removable and some is not. As dental assistants, we will be polishing patient's teeth to remove stain. However, it is imperative that our patient's understand that some stain may not be removable and polishing a person's teeth will not change their natural color.