Publications & Resources

Nearly all dental practices have resumed service, taking extra precautions due to the continued threat of COVID-19 and the emerging flu season. As patients returned, dentists saw the toll the pandemic was taking on teeth through an increase in stress-related oral health conditions.

As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s vital that dental practices follow appropriate guidelines to keep staff and patients safe, while protecting the practice from legal risks. Here are five ways to start.

Over the years, MLMIC has reached out to dental residents in New York to provide informative risk management programs geared to new dentists about topics like communication, the electronic health record, charting and healthcare proxy law.

Dental amalgam is “durable, safe and effective” despite containing mercury, the American Dental Association reaffirmed, responding to a recent statement by the Food and Drug Administration.

Dentists could potentially find themselves facing liability claims from patients who allege they contracted COVID-19 while receiving treatment at a dentist’s office, but whether that lawsuit will be successful is another question.

The American Dental Association emphasized that dentists, as essential health care workers, should be among those groups allowed early access to the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available.

With the issuance of a new Executive Order in New York, dentists can now administer COVID-19 point-of-care tests according to the state guidelines and requirements.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that people delay dental care. However, as stated in a recent statement, the American Dental Association (ADA) “respectfully yet strongly disagrees.”

Obtaining informed consent creates a legal doctrine that protects you as the dentist while also protecting patients’ rights. Here, we answer questions our policyholders ask most frequently about the process.

To help dentists plan for recovery, the ADA in March began projecting the effects of the pandemic. In its most recent iteration of the data, the ADA foresees four likely scenarios, barring another shutdown.