Dental implant jurisprudence: avoiding the legal failures.

The law measures the quality of dentistry by the "standard of care" as defined by the courts. The ultimate judges of the facts in a malpractice suit are usually juries made up mostly of lay people. Ignorance of the legal requirements for dentistry, and specifically dental implants, unnecessarily exposes today's dental health care provider to such suits. However, with a reasonable understanding of the legal issues and requirements surrounding the standard of care, a dentist may avoid becoming embroiled in a malpractice claim.