Keeping patient casts

[mmasurf]

i have a question how long do we need to keep a patient study cast or lab case for legal records? i have never seen a doctor keep every cast after delivering a case, is there a reference on the legal obligations? can we just take pictures and throw them away?

 

[NDPitch]

The dentist I shadowed has every model and impression he's ever taken. He has them dated and sorted in the attic. Even he thinks it's excessive but he told me he's been keeping them this long, and might as well keep going.

 

[Streetwolf]

i have a question how long do we need to keep a patient study cast or lab case for legal records? i have never seen a doctor keep every cast after delivering a case, is there a reference on the legal obligations? can we just take pictures and throw them away?

Check your state board website for the laws. In NJ it was on the jurisprudence exam. Somewhere in the realm of 3 years I THINK. Original study models, not middle-of-a-denture models or things like that.