Dental mapractice litigance in the city of São Paulo (SP), Brazil

The relationship between patients and dentists today is more worn and less based on trust, which can lead to high rates of lawsuits related to civil liability and dental malpractice. Aim: verify if there has been an increase in the number of lawsuits related to questioned dental treatments, and against dentists registered in the city of São Paulo (SP), Brazil, from 2012 to 2017. Methods: We outlined an overview based on the list from the São Paulo Council of Dentistry containing 30,238 registered dentists in the city of São Paulo, and searched for lawsuits on the public base of the São Paulo State Court's. Results: The search, after the inclusion and exclusion criteria, found 247 lawsuits, with dental implants as the most involved specialty. The total indemnities requested ranged from R$ 227.42 to R$ 937,000.00, but no indemnity granted exceeded the amount of R$ 100,000.00. Conclusion: According to the analysis of cases, there is a progressive increase in the number of civil liability lawsuits against dentists involving dental malpractice litigance

Sexual dimorphism applying the mandibular canine index in a Brazilian sample: a pilot study

This research study aimed at applying the morphometric quantification of the canine index for sexual dimorphism in a Brazilian sample. This was an observational study and the convenience sample consisted of 90 adult participants (45 male subjects and 45 female subjects), aging from 18 to 35 years. With the aidof a digital caliper, the intraoral mesiodistal measurement of the permanent mandibular right canine (MD43) and the intercanine distance (IC) were taken by three examiners. The measurements were applied to the mandibular canine index formula to estimate sex based on the morphometric features of human canines. The applicability of this approach for sexual dimorphism was assessed based on the mandibular canine index (MCI) calculated by the formula. The MCI was higher in male than in female subjects. In the total sample, the MCI overall mean accuracy rate for sexual dimorphism was 52.22%. In male subjects, the MCI was able to properly differentiate sex in 82.22% of the sample, while in female subjects the accuracy rate decreased to 22.22%. These results call the attention to the careful use of MCI especially for Forensic Anthropology. In particular, the accuracy of the method was close to the random of a sample that contained both sexes. Thus, the MCI should not be used as the only tool for sexual dimorphism.