Medico-legal aspect of dental implants

The practising environment in health care is ever changing in both clinical and management areas. Within dentistry, two major changes have occurred with the development of implantology into a sound treatment approach and a burgeoning of dental litigation. There are medico-legal issues that relate to dental implant treatment with which clinicians must become familiar and there are medico-legal implications that impact on risk management by Medical Indemnity Organizations (MDOs) and the indemnity premiums they set for their members. The aim of this paper is to discuss these issues and highlight those areas of significance to clinicians.