Criminal Liability of Dentists and Dentist Staff from The point of View of Yazd Province Medical System Organization

Nowadays, dentists and dental assistants are subject to complaints from patients, just like doctors. Sometimes a mistake in dental practices causes dental lesions and the patient, who did not get the desired treatment result despite the heavy cost, files a complaint against the dentist. Since there is not much information about the criminal responsibility of dentists, this research, while examining the opinions of experts of the medical system commissions of Yazd province, examines the indicators that play a role in the verification or non-verification of dentists' mistakes.Methods: This research is of a theoretical type, the research method is descriptive and analytical, and the method of collecting information is library-based, referring to documents, books and articles, and opinions of the medical system commission of Yazd province.Ethical Consideration: In all stages of writing the present research, while respecting the originality of the texts, honesty and trustworthiness have been observed.Result: In each case, several factors may cause attribution or non-attribution of fault to the dentist. The results show that, from a medical point of view, there are factors that are effective in preventing dental errors.Conclusion: Investigations indicate that the dentist's mistake in diagnosis, such as not properly evaluating the tooth, and the error related to the treatment method, such as performing unnecessary treatment, extracting teeth in conditions that can be maintained, excessive grinding of teeth, excessive manipulation of the surgical site, are examples of errors in dentistry field. If the dentist's actions are carried out in accordance with scientific standards and the complication that occur are among the known complications of dental surgery, then the dentist is not at fault. For example, from the point of view of the experts of the medical system, breaking of the file inside the root canal, bruising in the jaw and burning of the lip due to tooth extraction are possible and common side effects of the treatment. If the general dentist, with a correct diagnosis, refers the patient to a specialist dentist such as an endodontist to continue more specialized treatment, this will stop the possibility of attributing the damage to the dentist. Also, if there are no complications for the patient despite the dentist's mistake, this prevents the dentist from being held criminally liable.

Keywords:

Dentistry , dental surgery , medical system , fault or negligence , causation relationship