Investigation of causes and effects of malpractice claims against dentists judged in Rasht medical council, 2006 – 2011

Introduction: Medical claim is one of the most concerning subjects for both patients and physicians. In addition, it has lots of financial and nonfinancial costs for health care systems. To define the number and causes of medical claims against dentists of Rasht since 2006 till 2011in Guilan medical council. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross - sectional study was performed since 2006 till 2011.To collect the initial data, a check list has been designed, including demographic data of patients, claims against physicians and results on their counseling. All data have been collected and analyzed employing descriptive methods. Results: In this study, 69 claims were recorded in 6 years which mostly were due to malpractice, treatment complications and financial issues. Conclusion: Giving patients sufficient information about the illness, treatment methods, probable complications and avoiding financial issues between patients and dentists can help decrease the medical claims and would result in more reliance.