JOURNAL OF ENDODONTICS i VOL. 1, NO. 3, MARCH 1975

CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES Boston Univ School of Graduate Den- tistry, 100 E Newton St, Boston, Mass 02118.

Participation Course in Three Di- mensional Filling o/Root Canals with Warm Gutta-Percha. H. Schilder. March 6-7, 1975 (Course repeated Aug 7-8). Limit 10. $200. Participation Course in Surgical Endodontics. H. Schilder, H. Levin, S. Rubin, R. Rosenkranz, and A. Bushell. April 16-18, 1975. Limit 10. $200. Nonsurgical Endodontics. H. Schilder, H. Levin, S. Rubin, M. Fine, S. Melnick, R. Rosenkranz, W. Walker, and J. Williams. May 19-23, 1975. $325.

Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Harvard-Veterans Administration. c / o Melvin I. Cohen, Harvard-VA, 188 Longwood Ave, Boston, Mass 02115.

Surgical Endodontics. E. Meht- man and staff. April 16, 1975. VA Hospital, Providence, RI. $50. Diagnosing and Treating Diseases o / the Pulp. L. Bakland. May 21 and 28, 1975. VA Hospital, Togus, Me. $100.

CURRENT LITERATURE IN ENDODONTICS

Green, Daniel. Postdoctoral endo- dontic education: the role o/ re- search. J Dent Ed 38:627, 1974. Dept of Endodontics, Virginia Commonwealth Univ School of Dentistry, Richmond, Va.

Hanson, E.C., and Caputo, A.A. Ce- menting mediums and retentive characteristics o/ dowels. J Prosthet Dent 32:551 Nov 1974 . Hanson: Univ of California, School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, Calif.

Harrington, G.W., and Van Hassel, H.J. Postdoctoral endodontic edu- cation: current problems. J Dent Ed 38:6!0 , 1974. Harrington: Dept of Endodontics, Univ of Washington School of Dentistry, Seattle, Wash.

Jackson, Eric. Managing dental/ears: a tentative code of practice. J Oral Med 29:96 Oct-Dec 1974. Division of Behavioral Sciences, Dept of Basic Dental Sciences, Box 232 MBS, College of Dentist- ry, Univ of Florida, Gainesville, Fla 32610.

LAW AND ECONOMICS

P r o f e s s i o n a l L i a b i l i t y I n s u r a n c e

f o r t h e E n d o d o n t i s t

Few dentists are foolish enough to practice without benefit of profession- al liability or malpractice insurance even though the number of claims are particularly low against endodontists. In fact, the current flurry of interest in malpractice and malpractice insur- ance must be based on something other than an increase in incidence of claims because there has been no dis- cernable increase in malpractice claims against dentists.

Premiums on malpractice insurance for dentists have increased because of general cost increases rather than on the basis of more claims. Endodon- tics, as a specialty or as a dental pro- cedure, has always been fortunate to be the subject of a disproportionately low number of claims. The following suggestions are for the maintenance of proper professional liability insurance:

~ Y o u must have professional lia- bility insurance. Do not be foolish and try to economize.

- -Malprac t i ce insurance should be supplemented by a $1,000,000 umbrel- la policy. If you do not have a $1,000,000 umbrella policy, then your malpractice policy should not be for less than $100,000/$300,000 cover- age. I prefer $250,000/$500,000 cov- erage.

- - I f you are incorporated, the in- surance company should be notified and your policy should specifically name the corporation as one of the named insureds.

- - I f there are two or more dentists in the practice, you should both have the policy with the same insurance company. . - -Malprac t ice and premises liability

insurance should be combined in one policy.

- -Pol ic ies should be maintained as long as you treat patients or supervise the treatment of patients as a teacher but need not be maintained after you retire.

- - N o t i f y the insurance company at ar W time a patient says anything which suggests a claim.

- - D o not try to negotiate settle- ments with patients or attorneys by yourself. If you try and are unsuccess- ful, it may void your policy.

- - I recommend the policies spon- sored by dental societies.

- - I f you have an "associate," make sure your policy protects you for the actions of your "associate."

- - I f you practice as a partnership, make sure the insurance company is advised of this.

Harvey Sarner

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