Dr. Richard J. Martin, DMD

Medical malpractice is ordinary negligence by a dentist that causes injury to a patient. Examples include being improperly diagnosed, treated, medicated or operated upon outside the standard of care.

The three possible types of malpractice history are:

• Settlement - a payment on a medical malpractice action or claim settled out of court. It is not a presumption that malpractice has occurred.
• Arbitration Award - a payment on a medical malpractice action or claim typically based on a decision by a third-party arbiter. It is not a presumption that malpractice has occurred.
• Judgment - a court order for a dentist, or his or her employer, to pay a party a certain amount of money. It is a conclusion that a civil wrong has occurred.

If your dentist has a malpractice claim, evaluate the information and determine if the action could potentially impact the quality of care you receive. Claim settlements and arbitration awards may occur for a variety of reasons, which should not necessarily reflect negatively on the dentist's professional competence or conduct. You may want to use this information to start a discussion with the dentist.

HealthGrades reports details of a dentist malpractice history when the dentist has at least one closed malpractice claim within the last five years, even if he or she no longer practices in that state. If your dentist has malpractice claims in multiple states, evaluate the information for similarities. It is possible for multiple states to report the same claim.

HealthGrades collects malpractice and lawsuit information for the states of California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

A sanction, also known as a disciplinary action, is an action taken to punish or restrict a dentist who has demonstrated professional misconduct.

If a dentist has a sanction, it does not necessarily mean that he or she is a poor dentist. Evaluate the information and determine how severe you think the cause and action were.

HealthGrades reports state and federal sanctions (if any) for the previous five years except when a dentist's license has been revoked,suspended or surrendered.

HealthGrades collects sanction history from all 50 states. Dentists with a disciplinary action in one state may move to another state where they may have a clean record.