title: Civil liability: characterization of the demand for lawsuits against dentists.
abstract: In light of the fact that dentists may be held civilly liable for their practice, it is important to understand the current situation of lawsuits filed against these professionals by studying current legal decisions and the literature. The objective of this study was to analyze the case law of the Court of Justice of São Paulo, Brazil, relative to the profile of patients and professionals, the most commonly involved specialties, the amounts litigated and the court decisions pertaining to civil liability lawsuits against dentists. In an inductive approach, a single researcher screened and collected civil liability rulings by accessing the Court's website, and following a statistical-descriptive procedure and an indirect observation technique. The most frequently involved specialty was prosthodontics. However, oral and maxillofacial surgery was related to a higher incidence of damages awarded to settle claims and to higher damage amounts. The dentist was found guilty in 44.32% of the cases researched. Pecuniary damages ranged between R$ 485.50 and R$ 12,530.00, and non-pecuniary damages ranged between R$ 2,500.00 and R$ 70,000.00. Most lawsuits were filed by women against male dentists. An increase in the relative number of lawsuits against companies versus individuals was observed.
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo - USP, School of Dentistry, Department of Community Dentistry, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alice Aquino
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Zanin
authors.affiliation: Universidade Estadual de São Paulo - UNESP, School of Dentistry of Araraquara, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lara Maria
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Herrera
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo - USP, School of Dentistry, Department of Community Dentistry, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodolfo Francisco Haltenhoff
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Melani
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D035881:Compensation and Redress / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003815:Dentists / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033222:Judicial Role; D016365:Liability, Legal / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D008318:Malpractice / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012737:Sex Factors; D013039:Specialties, Dental / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data