Professional liability · Dentists
Professional Liability Insurance for Dentists
Dentistry combines clinical work, technical fabrication and a visible result. We arrange cover that reflects all three, starting from the procedures you actually carry out.
What makes it different
Why dentistry is underwritten on its own terms.
Dentistry differs from other specialties in three ways that matter to insurance: the result is visible to the patient, a laboratory enters the restoration, and treatments are judged years later.
Each of those affects a different part of the policy: how aesthetic procedures are declared, how laboratory work is treated, and the retroactive date and continuity of cover.
The procedures
What is declared, by category.
Cover follows the procedures you declare. These are the categories that come up in most practices.
General and restorative dentistry
Fillings, cleanings, preventive care and routine clinical work. The baseline activity declaration for any practice.
Endodontics
Root canal treatment and retreatment, with technical demands and record-keeping of its own. Declared separately where it forms a substantial part of the work.
Prosthodontics and implants
The highest value per case and the longest horizon. The retroactive date matters most here, because a restoration may be assessed long after it was placed.
Oral surgery
Extractions, impacted teeth and surgery of the soft and hard tissues, priced according to how invasive the work is.
Orthodontics
Long treatment plans with a gradual result and continuous monitoring. The length of treatment is what sets it apart for an insurer.
Aesthetic dentistry
Veneers, whitening and aesthetic restorations. Because the outcome is judged on appearance, these procedures are declared expressly and assessed on their own criteria.
Sedation and anaesthesia
If you use sedation or work with an anaesthetist, the policy has to provide for it expressly.
Three points to watch
What we check before you sign.
- The dental laboratoryWhere an external laboratory fabricates the restoration, it is not always obvious who answers for a failure. We check how the policy treats that, and whether the laboratory carries its own cover.
- Associate dentistsIn practices with several dentists, we establish whether each dentist needs their own policy, whether the practice needs one in its own name, or both.
- The time horizonRestorations can be questioned years later. Unbroken cover and a preserved retroactive date are usually worth more than a small difference in premium.
To get started
What we need in order to quote.
- A detailed list of proceduresParticularly implants, surgery, orthodontics, aesthetics and any sedation.
- Number of dentists and support staff
- Approximate annual case numbers or turnover
- Year you began practising
- Whether you work with an external dental laboratory
- Existing policy and retroactive date, if any
We do not need patient details. Please do not send us clinical records or health data relating to third parties.
Common questions
Questions dentists ask.
Are aesthetic restorations covered?
Where they have been declared and the policy provides for them, yes. Aesthetic work is assessed on its own criteria, so we declare it expressly rather than assume it is included.
Do I also need public liability for the practice?
Most dentists with their own premises need both. Public liability covers the premises and visitors; professional liability covers the treatment itself. They respond to different events.
Is treatment that began years ago covered?
Provided cover has been continuous and the retroactive date allows it. That is why preserving the original retroactive date is one of the first things we check when you change insurer.
What does it cost?
Premium depends on the range of procedures, case numbers, the limit of indemnity and the excess. A general practice and an implant-focused practice are priced differently. We show you the limit options with the cost of each.
The first conversation
Let us look at the cover that fits your practice.
We start from the procedures you carry out and how far back your cover needs to reach.