Forensic Dentistry, Second Edition

Jurisprudence and legal issues 389

compensation in the form of damages. In order for a plaintiff to prevail in a

standard of care case, there are essential elements of professional negligence

that must be proven by a “preponderance of the evidence.” These essential

elements are as follows:

Association: A professional relationship must exist between the plaintiff

and the dentist.

Breach: The dentist must have violated one or more appropriate stan-

dards of care (SOC).

Causation: The violation(s) of SOC must be the cause of a negative

outcome for the plaintiff.

Damage: There must be actual damages associated with a negative

outcome.

If all of these elements cannot be proven to the satisfaction of the jury, the
defendant will almost always prevail. Some plaintiff experts focus too much
on breach of the standard of care (SOC) and overlook the other essential
elements, not understanding the legal necessity to prove all four parts of the
case. Usually, the most difficult parts of the case to establish are causation and
damages. For this reason, it is often more prudent to examine the evidence for
causation and damages and work backward from there. An expert in a SOC
case should not act as an advocate for one side or the other, but rather deter-
mine whether there is evidence to prove the essential legal requirements of
the case. The opinions of a dental expert must address what the legal system
requires, not what the dental community desires.

16.3.3 Personal Injury Litigation

The mere fact that someone sustains an injury does not automatically make
it someone else’s fault. This concept is the essential basis of personal injury
litigation. As is true with standard of care (SOC) litigation, there are essential
elements that must be proven in court in order to prevail. The essential ele-
ments that must be established are:

Negligence of another: There must be negligence on the part of some-

one else.

Relevant negligence: The negligence of another must be related to the

injury that is claimed (often chronologically).

Causation negligence: The injury in question would not have occurred

except for the negligence of another.

Damages: There must be actual damages associated with the injury

in question.