Patient safety incidents reported by Finnish dentists; results from an internet-based survey

Abstract 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. Conclu...