If you still have questions about BCCOHP’s concerns or complaints process after reading these FAQs, please contact BCCOHP staff at 672-202-0448 (toll-free within Canada: 1-888-202-0448).
The first thing to do if you have a concern is to talk to your oral health care professional. If you still have concerns, you can contact BCCOHP for more information or submit a written concern.
You may contact BCCOHP with questions about the process by phone or email; however, submissions are not accepted by telephone or unsigned email, and BCCOHP staff are not able to provide you with treatment advice.
If discussions with the oral health professional have not resolved your concern, you can make a submission in writing to BCCOHP using our submission form. Learn how to make a submission.
If you are making a submission on behalf of someone else, you must complete the patient consent and patient information sections, in addition to information about yourself on the Concern Form.
Every patient has the right to access a full copy of their records. Patients own the information contained in their patient chart and have the right by law to access a copy of their complete dental record. Oral health care professionals are obligated by law to provide copies of what the patient has requested, including radiographs, study models and photographs. Dental offices may charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of duplicating the records.
Oral health care professionals are not allowed to withhold a patient’s records when the patient owes money for dental work. Fee disputes or other disagreements between the patient and oral health care professionals are not grounds to withhold access to, or transfer of, patient records. Oral health care professionals must also provide the patient records if another dental office requests them.
The timeline to resolve a concern or complete an investigation is difficult to accurately predict, as there are a number of factors that can affect the length of time. These factors include complexity of the concern or complaints, cooperation, and responsiveness of the parties. Currently, the average complaint is processed in approximately 12 months, while concerns are anticipated to be resolved sooner.
BCCOHP requires that oral health professionals are practising competently and ethically. We have legal powers under the Health Professions Act to investigate any complaint we receive that present a risk to the public. Outcomes may include collaborative resolution, suspension, cancellation or limitation, and/or other sanctions. BCCOHP’s primary focus is resolving concerns collaboratively.
If you make a submission, it is important that you are willing and able to provide additional information if BCCOHP requests it. Often the initial submission does not contain all the relevant facts, or new facts are learned during the process. We cannot proceed with incomplete submissions, and individuals who refuse to speak with BCCOHP make it difficult (or impossible) to effectively address their submission.
Submissions are reviewed and screened by BCCOHP staff. Additionally, the submission will be provided to the oral health professional involved and they will be asked to provide a response. In most cases, you will be provided with a copy of the oral health professional’s response.
While BCCOHP makes every effort to ensure submissions are kept confidential, it cannot guarantee confidentiality. Our records are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and may be disclosed to other persons whose interests may be affected. Note that if a complaint results in disciplinary action being taken, the outcome may become public.
Under the Health Professions Act, any information or documents that you receive from BCCOHP during a complaint investigation must be kept private and cannot be used for any other purpose, including legal proceedings.
Once your submission is received by BCCOHP, staff will reach out to discuss your options for resolution.
Note that a submission may be immediately dismissed if it is trivial, frivolous, vexatious, or made in bad faith, or if it concerns a matter outside BCCOHP’s powers.
No agreement that you make with an oral health care professional should keep you from filing a submission.
Matters that have not entered the investigation process can be withdrawn. If a matter enters the investigation process then this is generally not possible unless all the issues raised by the complaint have been addressed. This is because BCCOHP’s mandate is protection of the public. BCCOHP views complaints as matters of public importance and generally investigates each complaint it receives to completion.
Within 30 days of the Inquiry Committee’s decision, you will receive a letter summarizing the investigation and the decision.
If you are concerned about the outcome of your complaint, you can apply for a review with the Health Professions Review Board (HPRB). The HPRB cannot order that BCCOHP discipline the oral health professional, or require anybody to pay money to you. Rather, the HPRB’s review looks at whether BCCOHP’s investigation of the complaint was adequate, and whether its decision was reasonable.