Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Introduction: India’s health care system with its advanced technologies have helped millions of people live longer and healthier lives. But according to statistics , nearly 5,000,000 Indians dying every year due to medical negligence. Negligence is the breach of a legal duty to care. It means carelessness in a matter in which the law mandates reasonable care. If there happens breach of this duty gives a patient the right to initiate action against negligence. As dentists its high time we should be aware of the present judicial system, the litigations and upgrade our knowledge about the legal aspects of medical negligence .This study was done to evaluate and address the knowledge about legal aspects of medical negligence among dentists in India. Materials and methods: A total of 100 dentists from different dental colleges across country were requested to respond to survey of 15 questions regarding legal aspects of medical negligence. The responses obtained were evaluated and descriptive analysis was done. The results calculated were represented as graphs. Results: The responses from dentist to different aspects of medical negligence varied widely. Knowledge and understanding was found to be least for terms like Res Ispa loquitor bolam’s test and Bolitho case. The other questions had less than an average response. There were significantly lesser response for the rest of questions. Conclusion: From the survey it was found that , most of the dentists were aware of the medical negligence but were less aware of its legal aspects in depth. The survey emphasis our need to strengthen our knowledge relavant to medicolegal aspect of medical negligence in India. Key Words: Medical Negligence, Law, Knowledge.