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These case studies, based on DDU members' real-life experiences, provide a valuable opportunity for shared learning across a wide range of specialties and situations, as well as illustrating how we offer assistance to members when they need it most.
Bonus dilemma - only available online in the DDU app
Two practice hygienists contacted the DDU for assistance with a claim alleging a failure to diagnose and treat periodontal disease, brought against them by a patient they had been seeing at their practice for over ten years.
A patient brought a claim alleging that a DDU member had failed to appropriately use a mouth clamp during a crown preparation, leading to a dislocation of the jaw and the need for treatment under general anaesthetic to relocate it.
The DDU supported a member when they faced a claim alleging a failure to diagnose and treat periodontal disease in a young patient who had been attending the member's practice for two years.
A DDU dentist faced a claim after a patient alleged a failure to assess his periodontal condition before starting orthodontic treatment, and a failure to detect the periodontal attachment and bone loss that subsequently occurred.
A patient brought a claim alleging that a DDU member caused them to suffer neuropraxia during the extraction of their LR7, and either misplaced dental instruments or caused damage to the mucosa.
The DDU was able to successfully defend a member who faced a claim alleging a failure to identify and treat caries and fit a satisfactory crown, resulting in crown fracture, infection and tooth extraction.
A DDU member's clinical notes were a vital part of a successful defence of a claim brought against them by a patient who was left with a root fragment in their distal socket following a root canal and extraction.
A DDU associate member called for advice after the practice owners said he wasn't allowed to tell patients was he planning to leave, because of the impact they feared it might have on those patients' practice payment plans.
A DDU adviser was able to guide a member through a query about a request for a non-clinically justified radiograph that had been made by a patient in relation to a claim being pursued against another dentist.
A DDU member asked for advice around their obligations to a patient who wanted cosmetic treatment overseas, which the member thought was not in the patient's best interests.
Members can access an additional advice line dilemma exclusively in the DDU app.