Medicolegal and Ethical Considerations in Oral Surgery by the General Dentist

Medicolegal and ethics issues that face the general dentist in their practice of oral surgery frequently overlap with those issues faced throughout the practice of general dentistry. Given that overlap, this chapter discusses medicolegal and ethical issues in two broad ways: first, those issues that are traditional medicolegal or ethical issues across practice areas that have special implications regarding oral surgery in the practice of general dentistry and second, those emerging issues related to technology and to the regulatory environment that, while in some less specific to the oral surgery context, are nonetheless apt because of their changing nature. In the first half of this chapter, we consider those traditional issues with special implications for oral surgery in the general dentistry practice. These include informed consent, standard of care, and scope of practice. The second half of the chapter explores the current regulatory environment, the medicolegal implications of new technologies, and the interplay between technology and compliance. This consists of discussions around opioid analgesic prescribing, HIPAA and HITECH compliance, electronic health records, and other related privacy and security issues involving software, hardware, and the emerging Internet of Things.