Reports to the National Practitioner Data Bank involving dentists, 1990-2004.

BACKGROUND

While the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) contains reports relating to dentists, an analysis of these data has not been published.

METHODS

The authors analyze 47,441 reports to the NPDB relating to malpractice payments, licensure actions and adverse actions against dentists from Sept. 1, 1990, to Sept. 30, 2004.

RESULTS

A total of 13.2 percent of all NPDB reports were related to dentists. Of these, 73.7 percent resulted from malpractice actions and the remaining 26.3 percent were from adverse actions. While the number of large payments increased over this period, the median payment remained relatively stable.

CONCLUSIONS

Dental malpractice settlements and judgments generally have kept pace with inflation over the past decade.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Dentists should be aware that the NPDB retains reports of adverse actions and malpractice settlements and judgments indefinitely. These reports are available to hospitals evaluating their credentials, state licensing boards and certain health care entities (for example, health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations) entering into an employment or other relationship with them.