BACKGROUND: Few data are available on dental patient safety (PS), as most PS studies have focused on other activities in health care. OBJECTIVE: To detect types and causes of dental PS incidents (PSIs), including adverse events (AEs) and near misses (NMs), in Finnish dental care. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Altogether 1041 privately or publicly employed dentists in southern Finland completed a structured questionnaire using an internet-based system (Webropol) in 2010. RESULTS: Nearly one third of the dentists reported some PSI in the previous 12 months. Of the 872 reported events, 53% were classified as AEs, 45% as NMs and 2% remained unclassified. Nearly half of the PSIs had occurred during some form of dental treatment. One third of the AEs were related to dental equipment, devices and supplies. Most of the reported AEs resulted in little or no permanent harm to patients. However, 13% of AEs were considered as serious enough to potentially cause severe harm or did in fact cause permanent harm. CONCLUSIONS: Reported dental PSIs in Finland are in many respects similar to those reported in other countries. Compared to all annual dental visits in Finland, severe dental AEs seem to be relatively rare. Less severe AEs and NMs are not uncommon, especially in dental surgery, endodontic and restorative treatment. The results of this retrospective study, however, reveal more about incident types than their true prevalence and that further studies on dental PS are needed.
BACKGROUND: Few data are available on dental patient safety (PS), as most PS studies have focused on other activities in health care. OBJECTIVE: To detect types and causes of dental PS incidents (PSIs), including adverse events (AEs) and near misses (NMs), in Finnish dental care. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Altogether 1041 privately or publicly employed dentists in southern Finland completed a structured questionnaire using an internet-based system (Webropol) in 2010. RESULTS: Nearly one third of the dentists reported some PSI in the previous 12 months. Of the 872 reported events, 53% were classified as AEs, 45% as NMs and 2% remained unclassified. Nearly half of the PSIs had occurred during some form of dental treatment. One third of the AEs were related to dental equipment, devices and supplies. Most of the reported AEs resulted in little or no permanent harm to patients. However, 13% of AEs were considered as serious enough to potentially cause severe harm or did in fact cause permanent harm. CONCLUSIONS: Reported dental PSIs in Finland are in many respects similar to those reported in other countries. Compared to all annual dental visits in Finland, severe dental AEs seem to be relatively rare. Less severe AEs and NMs are not uncommon, especially in dental surgery, endodontic and restorative treatment. The results of this retrospective study, however, reveal more about incident types than their true prevalence and that further studies on dental PS are needed.
Authors: Peter Maramaldi; Muhammad F Walji; Joel White; Jini Etolue; Maria Kahn; Ram Vaderhobli; Japneet Kwatra; Veronique F Delattre; Nutan B Hebballi; Denice Stewart; Karla Kent; Alfa Yansane; Rachel B Ramoni; Elsbeth Kalenderian Journal: J Am Dent Assoc Date: 2016-06-03 Impact factor: 3.634
Authors: Elsbeth Kalenderian; Enihomo Obadan-Udoh; Peter Maramaldi; Jini Etolue; Alfa Yansane; Denice Stewart; Joel White; Ram Vaderhobli; Karla Kent; Nutan B Hebballi; Veronique Delattre; Maria Kahn; Oluwabunmi Tokede; Rachel B Ramoni; Muhammad F Walji Journal: J Patient Saf Date: 2021-09-01 Impact factor: 2.243
Authors: Bernardo Perea-Pérez; Elena Labajo-González; Andrés Santiago-Sáez; Elena Albarrán-Juan; Alfonso Villa-Vigil Journal: Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal Date: 2014-09-01