Safety and Quality in Public Dentistry

The latest report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on medical indemnity for the national public sector for 2006–07, states that there were 6840 claims where the type of clinical service was recorded. Of these, procedural dentistry contributed 44 cases and oral surgery contributed 32 cases, an aggregate of 1.1 per cent of all claims. This compares with general surgery which had 1,119 cases (17.8%) and Obstetrics which had 1,085 claims (17.3%).