Perception of Dental Professionals towards Dental Errors in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Dentists have an ethical responsibility to disclose their mistakes; however, there is considerable inconsistency on what dentists do after a dental error is committed, how much information they disclose, to whom they disclose this information and what they can do to prevent future errors. Although Saudi Arabia has started to establish risk management plans for dentistry, gaps still remain in achieving modern high quality healthcare standards. This study aims to provide empirical evidence on the perception of dental professionals, in an Arab/Islamic culture, towards dental errors. 

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between August 2015 and January 2016 and involved 586 dental professional staff and auxiliaries. The data collection was undertaken using Twitter and face-to-face sampling from various medical cities and dental colleges in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

Results: The most frequent age-group was <30 years (62.1%) and the majority of the participants were Saudis (72.9%). The majority of the respondents perceived that dental errors happen mainly due to failures in processes and work structures, the dentist should report the error to the institution and the involved patient, discuss with colleagues, and make changes to minimize recurrences. There were, however, significant differences in the responses to the survey with respect to different demographic groups of respondents. 

Conclusions: This study provides critical information to assist the Saudi Ministry of Health to develop new ethical regulations for the disclosure of dental errors based on perceptions of dental professionals. The existing regulations contain limited information on the disclosure of dental errors.