Patients’ experiences of dental diagnostic failures: A qualitative study using social media (April 2024)

Summary

This qualitative study in the Journal of Patient Safety aimed to understand the perception of dental patients who have experienced a dental diagnostic error and to identify patient-centred strategies to help reduce future occurrences. Recruiting patients via social media, the researchers conducted a screening survey, initial assessment and 67 individual patient interviews to capture the effects of misdiagnosis, missed diagnosis or delayed diagnosis on patient lives.

They found that dental patients endured prolonged suffering, disease progression, unnecessary treatments and the development of new symptoms as a result of diagnostic errors. Patients believed that the following factors contributed to diagnostic errors:

• Poor provider communication
• Inadequate time with provider
• Lack of patient self-advocacy and health literacy.

Patients suggested that future diagnostic errors could be mitigated through:

• improvements in provider chairside manners
• more detailed patient diagnostic workups
• improving personal self-advocacy
• enhanced reporting systems.