Dental Law – UNDERSTANDING MORAL, MATERIAL AND AESTHETIC DAMAGES IN HOF

Vol. 5 – Number 18 – 2024 Dental Law Page 8-9 UNDERSTANDING MORAL, MATERIAL AND AESTHETIC DAMAGES IN HOF Prof. Roberley Araújo Assad Graduated in Law and Dentistry Judicial Expert – TJPR Professor of Legal Dentistry – CESCAGE Professor and Coordinator of Postgraduate Orthodontics – Cescage The specialty of Orofacial Harmonization has opened up a range of favorable situations for the dental surgeon, but also dangerous ones, and when it comes to Moral Damage and Material Damage in Law, it becomes the area of greatest risk among all of Dentistry. It is therefore important for dentists to know what our legislation says about these two concepts: MORAL DAMAGE: according to Article 186 of the Civil Code, anyone who, through voluntary action or omission, negligence or recklessness, violates a right and causes damage to another, even if exclusively moral, commits an unlawful act. MATERIAL DAMAGE: according to article 949 of the Civil Code, Material Damage, also known as Patrimonial Damage, is damage to a person’s assets, i.e. the loss of goods or things that have economic value. AESTHETIC DAMAGE: this is defined by the SUMMULAS of various courts across the country; it is characterized by damage to someone’s health or physical integrity that results in embarrassment. In the same article 949, cited above, the law states that in the event of injury or other offense to health, the offender shall compensate the offended party for the costs of treatment and loss of profits until the end of convalescence, in addition to any other loss that the offended party proves to have suffered. By analyzing the above concepts, all of which are provided for by law, we don’t need to be lawyers to understand that we are faced with a great deal of responsibility when we treat a patient in the HOF specialty. We live in a social universe of ups and downs in which everything is unpredictable and possible: investment in beautification, self-esteem and so many other pleasures that, in return, crises of anxiety and depression occur in those who felt beautiful and courageous a few days ago. Therefore, each procedure must be under the full control of the operator, in order to minimize the possibility of error. Have a specific contract for the area, very robust and non-biased, so that it can’t be annulled, to protect yourself as much as possible. In order to legally exercise our profession as a specialty, we need to publicize our work and one of the most common publications are images of BEFORE and AFTER clinical cases, which places us, within the consumer protection code, as professional service providers with results. In other words, a new patient who saw the publication of the BEFORE and AFTER went to your clinic showing a desire to look the same (which is impossible) and, at the end of the treatment, saw that the results were not to their satisfaction, can go to court through their lawyer, who already specializes in health, aesthetics and other adjacent areas, asking for high amounts for the damages caused. And, depending on the occupation of the patient (TV presenter, for example, who uses his face to earn a living), the “bill” increases even more in the end, as judges almost always rule in favor of the patient, except in very well-defended cases, filed with very substantial documentary evidence (quality images, medical records, signatures on contracts). And to conclude, the HOF as practiced by a specialist dental surgeon is increasingly gaining prominence and notoriety in the community in general due to the fact that dentists have a lot of manual dexterity and psychology to attend to patients, due to their training since the beginning of the college cycle, graduation, post-graduation and practical courses they attend, a fact that is relevant and of great pride to our class, which has legally won the legal permission to act. So always use all the caution and anatomical and functional knowledge required to be an excellent professional, now also going through the legal principles that I will be bringing to readers of this sensational magazine from this issue onwards.   Available for download, click here