legal disagreements or wrongs commited against individuals, not society
civil law
deals with legally binding agreements between two or more parties
contract law
not spoken or written, but is understood though the actions of both parties
implied contract
clearly communicated either orally or in writing
expressed contract
when a provider ends professional relationship without proper notice
abandonment
when either the patient or provider fails to uphold their part of the agreement
breach of contract
wrongful action or harm done to another person, wether intentional or unintentional
tort law
when harm is caused by carelessness or failure to act
unintentional tort
professional negligence, most common type of unintentional tort in dentistry
malpractice
when a provider recognizes a patient needs additional treatment but doesn’t address the issue
supervised neglect
when a dental professional knowingly commits an act that violates a patients rights
intentional torts
any unauthorized physical contact with a patient
battery
verbal or physical threat that causes a patient to fear harm
assault
damaging someone’s reputation by making false statements
defamation
spoken defamation
slander
written defamation
libel
hold patient information in trust; do not disclose without consent
confidentiality
maintain in public trust in healthcare professionals
societal trust
avoid causing hard to patients
nonmaleficence
act in the best interest of patients and provide high quality care
beneficence
treat all patients fairly and equally
justice
be honest and provide truthful information
veracity
respect a patient’s right to make informed decisions
autonomy
acting as a parent would on behalf a child
paternalism
