Dental implants are a common procedure for both cosmetic and medical reasons, but before performing this treatment on a patient, you must receive their informed consent. You can do so with a dental implant consent form that will protect your practice against legal liability issues and ensure that your patients make a well-informed decision regarding their treatment plan.

What Is Informed Consent for Dental Patients?

Every state in the U.S. requires patients to give informed consent before a dental procedure. It ensures that patients have a comprehensive understanding of their treatment and can make their own decision based on the information their dentist provides. The types of informed consent include verbal, written, and recorded. While some dentists still use the traditional written informed consent form, many practices have gone paperless, which reduces costs and improves the patient experience. You can check out online dental forms by Dental Intelligence now.  

Critical Components of a Dental Implant Consent Form

When obtaining informed consent from a patient who wants or needs dental implants, dentists must speak in person to the patient using language understandable to a layperson. Then, they must also obtain the patient's written signature on the informed consent form. The form and conversation should include the following elements:

• The patient’s official diagnosis and a rationale for their proposed treatment
• The nature of the dental implant procedure and what it involves
• Potential risks the patient must accept before receiving dental implants
• Alternative treatments instead of dental implants
• Projected benefits, outcome, and prognosis for the patient after receiving their dental implants
• The type of risks the patient will face if they refuse the dental procedure
• Costs and expenses the patient will incur by agreeing to dental implants

Before performing dental implant procedures on patients, you need to obtain valid legal consent. In addition, patients who receive detailed information about their implants and the potential risks and outcomes are much less likely to file a lawsuit.  

Best Practices for Obtaining Informed Consent for Dental Implants

Below, we discuss expert tips and best practices for dentists to follow regarding informed consent:

Check Each Form

Don't make the mistake of filing away consent form submissions without checking them first. Be sure that the patient has signed and dated each of the form fields, whether that's in-person or electronically. They must give their consent freely and voluntarily.

Ensure Patient Comprehension

Remember, your patient must understand the terms and language you use when discussing their informed consent. Avoid technical jargon and use simple, straightforward, and concise language. Patients who speak a foreign language will need an interpreter and a form in their language.

Patients Under 18 Cannot Self-Sign

If you have patients under 18 who may receive dental implants, they cannot self-sign. They must have a parent or guardian present during the verbal conversation, and the written informed consent form must be signed by their parent or guardian.

Record and Store Consents

To ensure that your dental practice has the proper legal protection regarding patient consent to treatment, you should always record and store each consent form. Instead of taking up space with paper, switch to online dental consent forms to ensure that you have instant access to any document you need. Plus, it makes the process smoother, faster, and hassle-free for both the dentist and the patient.

Provide Opportunities for Questions

Some patients may be too embarrassed to ask questions after having an informed consent discussion. Ask every patient if they have any questions, concerns, or confusion about dental implants and the procedure's risks, benefits, alternatives, and outcomes.

Document Refusals

Just as you would record and store patients who sign their informed consent forms, you should also do the same for patients who refuse treatment. Additionally, document any patients who refuse to follow a specialist referral to another healthcare provider for necessary treatment.

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A dental implant consent form should be clear and simple, contain the critical elements we discussed above, and ensure that patients understand the risks, benefits, outcomes, and alternatives to the procedure. If you'd like to learn more about dental insurance breakdown forms, informed consent, and how we can benefit your dental practice, schedule a demo today.