WARRANTY REGULATION at Axioma Dental LLC dental clinic

1. General

This regulation defines the basic rules for establishing and providing warranty for work and services rendered to patients at Axioma Dental LLC dental clinic (hereinafter - “Clinic”) for the purpose of observing patient rights in compliance with the laws of the Russian Federation and settling potential disputes between parties pertaining to the provision of medical services.

2. Legal framework and definitions

The legal framework for establishing warranty obligations and guarantee periods is understood to be:

• The constitution of the Russian Federation;
• The Russian Federation Law ‘On Fundamental Health Care Principles in the Russian Federation”
• The Russian Federation Law “On Protection of Consumers’ Rights”;
• This Regulation.

The main definitions used in this Regulation:

• Warranty - a guarantee, a provision to ensure something.
• Unconditional or mandatory guarantees - guarantees regarding adherence to medical canons, industry standards and consumer rights.
• Clinic’s guarantees - guarantees anticipated and established with consideration for identified circumstances, doctor’s experience and applied technologies. Such guarantees are provided as time periods (warranty period and service life) for a free elimination of defects discovered after treatment through no fault of the patient;
• Service life - a period during which the service provider guarantees that the consumer will be able to use the results of work or service as intended and bears responsibility in accordance with the applicable law in force.
• Guarantee period - a period during which the Clinic will eliminate defects free of charge.
• Warranty establishing circumstances - a set of objective factors which may influence the treatment outcome in a certain way: positively, neutrally, or negatively:
• State - changes in the organism occurring under the influence of pathogenic and/or physiological factors and requiring medical care;
• State of health of a patient - presence of concomitant diseases which have a direct or indirect effect (or may have an effect in the future) on medical intervention (choices, results, service life);
• Complexity of the service provided - an unusual case, neglected diseases, multiple causality;
• Specific characteristics of technologies, materials and treatment options used - how and to what extent they can influence the warranty (explaining advantages and disadvantages of technologies, materials and treatment options used by the doctor or chosen by the patient);
• Specific characteristics of the patient’s professional activity, which can have a negative effect on dental treatment outcomes: working in a hot shop or in a cold environment, chemical production and laboratories, powder metallurgy and welding, intensive work on a computer, playing brass instruments, doing sport (boxing, wrestling, basketball), etc.

3. Statutory guarantees

The Clinic guarantees unconditionally and without fail that with regard to all dental services:

• it hasprovided complete, accurate and clearly worded information regarding the patient’s state of health (in consideration of their right and desire to receive such information voluntarily);
• it hasconducted a consultation and a case conference;
• treatment has been performed by specialists holding licenses which certify their right to perform the particular kind of medical service;
• it considered the patient’s general state of health when diagnostic, treatment and preventive procedures were performed by dentists of all specializations;
• it has made a full diagnosis;
• it has drawn up a proposed (recommended) treatment plan;
• it has usedtreatment methods and techniques practised in our clinic;
• it has selected anaesthetics on an individual basis to prevent painful sensations as mush as possible, taking into consideration the age of the patient, their allergy status, general state of health and previous history of dental treatment;
• it has ensured safe treatment by providing relevant sanitary and epidemiological measures and applying technologies and materials which are allowed for use;
• it has provided accurate diagnostic results which can be obtained by specialists with appropriate qualifications using up-to-date diagnostic facilities and data from additional examinations;
• it has thoroughly followed the treatment technologies, which presupposes a high professional level of doctors, dental technicians and assistants, as well as special control tools to monitor their work;
• it has used safe materials approved by the Russian Ministry of Health Care within their shelf life;
• it has performed check-up examinations in accordance with indications after a complicated treatment procedure or to prevent unwanted effects;
• it has provided dynamic control of the treatment process and treatment outcome;
• it has undertaken measures to eliminate or reduce the severity of complications which may occur during or after the treatment process;

This set of mandatory guarantees creates a precondition for proper treatment and outcome stability, as well as providing a high-quality medical service.

4. Terms of warranty

4.1 The clinic’s warranty is provided for dental work (services) which has a tangible outcome (a filling, a veneer, a tooth crown, a dental restoration, dental prostheses, orthodontic appliances after the removal of braces). Warranty is set as a guarantee period and a service life.

4.2 An effective and safe use of the products resulting from dental services after the warranty period has expired is possible providing that the patient keeps up with regular checkups as recommended by the doctor, but not less than every six months.

4.3 Where deemed possible, the Clinic has specified average guarantee periods and average service life for treatments (section 6 of this Regulation); 

4.4 In specific cases (under identified treatment circumstances), the guarantee periods can be longer or shorter than the average ones. The attending doctor will expound on what and why they can or cannot guarantee in each particular case.

4.5 In some cases, the guarantee period for medical services can be increased on condition that certain additional recommendations set by the attending doctor as necessary are observed. The final decision regarding any increase of guarantee periods shall be taken by the attending doctor.

5. Medical services for which guarantee periods or service life do not apply

The Clinic does not set a guarantee period or a service life for certain types of dental services, as it is not deemed possible:

• Root canal retreatment
• Treatment of teeth in patients diagnosed with periodontitis
• Professional oral hygiene
• Periodontal treatment
• Teeth whitening
• Replacing female attachments (O-rings) in removable prostheses
• surgical treatment (except for implantation)
• orthodontic treatment (except for retainers and mouthguards)

The warranty does not cover wear of materials and structures, as well as damage caused by improper use, negligence or an accident.

6. Guarantee periods and service life set by the Clinic

Dental therapy:

Dental orthopaedics:

Dental surgery:

If a dental implant is rejected within one year of its placement, the clinic guarantees a second dental implant surgery free of charge. If performing a second implant surgery is impossible because of medical indications, a case conference meeting is convened where a further treatment strategy is determined.

Orthodontics:

7. Settling warranty claims

The clinic shall perform its warranty obligations covered by this warranty providing that the patient has been in compliance with the terms and conditions of the paid medical (dental) services contract (including the obligations as per clause 2.3.7. of the contract: “to timely pay the cost of the dental services provided”), as well as subject to the following conditions:

• during the guarantee period, the patient does not develop (acquire) internal organ diseases and/or changes to the physiological state of the organism (resulting from pregnancy, taking medication or harmful external impacts), which can have a negative effect on the achieved dental treatment outcomes
• the patient performs oral hygiene and other prescriptions of the dentist;
• the patient visits the clinic for professional oral hygiene as frequently as recommended by the doctor at least twice a year;
• the patient attends free examinations as frequently as recommended by the doctor;
• during the treatment period, the patient does not have the service outcome altered or corrected at another medical institution or by themselves;
• when referring to another clinic for emergency care, the patient provides the Clinic with an abstract of the outpatient medical record and examination results recording the intervention results;
• any identified shortcomings in our services are rectified at the Clinic;
• no events occur (external traumatic impacts), which can have a negative effect on the treatment outcome;
• the patient is not in violation of operating instructions regarding the results of dental work (services), as stipulated in guidelines and the informed voluntary consent to medical intervention.

All guarantees set by the doctor (doctors) and agreed with the patient for each service provided are recorded in the documents issued to the patient. A copy of the document signed by the patient is kept in their medical file.

If the attending doctor increased a guarantee period (as per clause 4), a relevant change is made to the warranty certificate.

8. Final provisions

This regulation is mandatory for all doctors and staff of the Clinic when providing medical services to patients. Any changes to this regulation or setting guarantee periods other than the average guarantee periods and service life set herein are introduced by an administrative order of the Company’s CEO.