Dental professionals are licensed individuals who diagnose and treat oral health conditions. They may specialize in treating children or adults or care for patients of all age groups. These professionals generally perform their services in office settings and hire additional employees (e.g., dental hygienists, dental assistants, laboratory technicians and receptionists) to help them care for and manage patients.
Common tasks among dental professionals include conducting physical examinations and reviewing X-ray images to identify tooth, gum, jaw and mouth problems; removing tooth decay and filling cavities; administering anesthetics to limit patients’ pain during dental procedures; repairing or pulling out fractured teeth; treating teeth with sealants or whitening agents; prescribing antibiotics and other medications to help patients manage oral health conditions; taking measurements and creating models for dental appliances (e.g., dentures and retainers); and providing patients with valuable guidance regarding ongoing dental care (e.g., brushing, flossing and maintaining a healthy diet).
Dental professionals must consider several risks, including property concerns, employee safety issues and liability exposures. As such, it’s crucial that they secure proper insurance to protect themselves and their operations against possible losses. Keep reading for an outline of common exposures within the dental industry and associated coverage considerations.
Common Exposures for Dental Practices
Here’s a breakdown of key exposures dental professionals may face in their operations:
- Property— Dental professionals tend to operate out of owned or leased office spaces equipped with dedicated treatment rooms or cubicles. These professionals often leverage many types of dental instruments and equipment (e.g., scalpels, drills, dental mirrors, probes, polishers, curettes, forceps, electric brushes, scalers, saliva ejectors, water flossers, lasers and X-ray machines) to perform their services. Dental professionals’ office spaces also usually include reception and storage areas where they carry out general business activities and keep important materials (e.g., computers, printers, fax machines, chemicals and disinfecting agents, protective equipment, and patient and employee records). Unfortunately, unexpected events—including theft, vandalism, fires, inclement weather and equipment breakdowns—may result in this property becoming damaged, stolen or destroyed, potentially leaving dental professionals with significant recovery expenses. Apart from repairing and replacing their affected property, these professionals may experience business interruptions (e.g., temporary closures and delayed or canceled services) during the recovery process, compounding related losses.
- Occupational safety— Even if dental professionals take proper precautions to protect their employees at work, job-related injuries and illnesses can still happen. Common occupational ailments in the dental sector include musculoskeletal disorders due to performing repetitive tasks; cuts, scrapes and puncture wounds stemming from the use of sharp dental instruments; infectious diseases caused by exposure to bloodborne pathogens; long-term radiation risks from X-ray machines; slips and falls due to hazardous walking surfaces; hearing damage stemming from exposure to high-powered equipment; eye or skin irritation due to the splashing of bodily fluids, chemicals or other dangerous substances; burns stemming from the use of lasers; and bodily trauma due to incidents involving violent patients. If employees get injured or become ill on the job, dental professionals could be held responsible for their workers’ subsequent hospital bills, treatment expenses and lost wages.
- General liability—If any third parties (e.g., patients, suppliers or passersby) experience injuries or damages on dental professionals’ premises, these professionals could be held liable for the associated losses. For example, a supplier may file a lawsuit against a dental professional if they slip and fall when visiting the professional’s office space to make a delivery.
- Medical malpractice— Dental professionals have a responsibility to do no harm, which means they must provide attentive care and honest guidance to patients. Furthermore, they are required to obtain informed consent before treating patients by sharing treatment plans and outlining the potential risks and benefits of these plans. If dental professionals provide negligent or otherwise poor care to patients—whether that entails false diagnoses or prescriptions, treatment without informed consent, procedures that worsen oral health conditions instead of improving them or incorrect dental guidance—they could be sued and held liable for the related losses.
- Employment practices — In addition to caring for patients, dental professionals are responsible for providing employees with a fair and supportive workplace that is free from discrimination, harassment and retaliation. If these professionals contribute to a hostile work environment by participating in or permitting discrimination and harassment or taking adverse employment actions (e.g., discipline, lack of promotion or termination) against employees without reasonable cause, they could face costly legal action from disgruntled employees and potential regulatory penalties from employment agencies.
- Cyber— Dental professionals are increasingly relying on digital systems and software to store sensitive workplace records and keep track of patients’ personal data, such as their names, phone numbers, addresses, health history, dental insurance plans and financial information. Yet, amid growing cyberthreats, using such technology could make these professionals more vulnerable to data breaches, ransomware incidents and other digital attacks. Following such events, dental professionals could encounter many costs related to dealing with possible business disruptions, notifying impacted individuals, recovering lost or damaged data and technology, handling associated legal ramifications and reputational losses, and implementing additional cybersecurity measures to prevent future incidents.
Coverage Considerations
To help address their exposures and stay protected amid potential losses, dental professionals should consider the following forms of coverage:
- Commercial property insurance—This coverage can help pay the resulting repair or replacement costs if a dental professional’s commercial property—such as their office space, dental instruments and equipment—gets damaged, stolen or destroyed due to a covered event.
- Equipment breakdown coverage—If a dental professional’s equipment stops working due to an unexpected electrical or mechanical breakdown or other uncontrollable circumstances, this coverage can help reimburse the cost of repairing or replacing the affected equipment.
- Business interruption insurance—Such coverage can help compensate a dental professional’s typical operating costs (e.g., business income, commercial mortgage and tax payments, lease and loan expenses, and employee payroll) if they are forced to temporarily close their doors due to direct physical damage caused by a covered event.
- Workers’ compensation coverage—If a dental professional’s employees get injured or become ill on the job, this coverage can help pay those workers’ hospital bills, treatment costs and lost wages.
- General liability insurance—This coverage can assist if a dental professional is held legally or financially liable for injuries, harm or damage to another party or their property.
- Cyber liability coverage—Such coverage can assist with certain first- and third-party expenses that may result from a dental professional experiencing a data breach, ransomware attack or other cyber incident.
- Professional liability insurance—If a patient claims that a dental professional provided poor or negligent services, failed to obtain informed consent prior to performing treatment or made other professional errors, this coverage—also called medical malpractice insurance—can help pay the resulting expenses.
- Employment practices liability (EPL) coverage—In the event that a dental professional is faced with employee lawsuits alleging workplace discrimination or harassment, wrongful termination or discipline, or failure to employ or promote, EPL coverage can assist with the associated defense costs.
- Umbrella and excess insurance—If a dental professional’s claim costs exceed the limits for their primary liability policies, this coverage can increase those limits. Additionally, umbrella policies can help broaden existing policy coverage.
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