Chapter 4 & 5 Test

Question 1

Criminal & Civil law

Answer 1

Criminal law:
Involves crimes against society

Civil law:
Involves crimes against an individual

Question 2

Ethical dilemma

Answer 2

Is when one or more principles of ethics come in conflict with each other

Question 3

Example of ethical dilemma

Answer 3

The dentist knows it’s better if the patient saves the tooth, but the patient wants it extracted

Question 4

Steps of ethical dilemma

Answer 4

1. Identify the alternatives
2. Determine all implications
3. Rank the alternatives
4. Choose a course of action

Question 5

Difference between ethics & law

Answer 5

Ethics:
Right or wrong of a situation

Law: court decisions

Question 6

Purpose of licensure

Answer 6

To protect public

Question 7

Components of statutory law

Answer 7

Criminal law

Civil law

Question 8

What is dental practice act & it’s purpose

Answer 8

What it is:
It is the laws that we must follow

Purpose:

• protect the public
• specifies the legal requirements for the practice of dentistry within each province
• board of dentistry, interprets & implements provincial regulations

Question 9

Contributory negligence

Answer 9

All broken or cancelled appointments must be noted in the patients record

Question 10

Expressed & implied contracts

Answer 10

Expressed contract:
Established through the written word or by verbal agreement
- used when the required treatment will take a long time to complete

Implied contract:
Established by action, not words
- if patient comes to dentist with a toothache & allows dentist to examine him or her, it is implied him or her wants treatment

Question 11

4 D’s

Answer 11

Must be present for a malpractice lawsuit to be successful

1. Duty- dentist- patient relationship must exist
2. Derelict- negligence occurred because the standard of care wasn’t met
3. Direct cause- the negligent act was the direct cause of the injury
4. Damages- may include pain & suffering, loss of income, & medical bills, among other things

Question 12

Proper chart documentation

Answer 12

• keep a separate chart for each patient
• business & financial information is not part of the clinical record
• it’s better to chart too much information than to little
• make the chart entry during the examination or patients visit
• date & initial the entry
• the chart entry should be sufficiently complete to indicate that nothing was neglected
• never change the chart after a problem arises