Dental Negligence Injury Claims

When you visit the dentist, you are entitled to the same reasonable standard of treatment as with any other doctor or medical professional, whether you are having treatment to improve the functioning of your teeth through the NHS or to improve their appearance cosmetically through a private dentistry business. Mistakes can be made which are avoidable and result and pain and discomfort, loss of the ability to eat, drink, chew or even speak properly and your appearance can be altered to the extent that you find it extremely embarrassing. It is not easy to conceal bad teeth if something has gone wrong, so such surgery is extremely important.

Problems can arise when the outcome is not what was expected and can often mean that corrective or remedial dental surgery is needed at extra cost. You may have suffered bone loss and need a bone graft, or need teeth extracted and replaced with dentures, implants or crowns.

We have many specialists in dental negligence cases who can advise you as to whether you have a claim. If you do, it is possible to reclaim the cost of any corrective or remedial surgery as part of the overall claim against a negligent surgeon.

TYPES OF DENTAL NEGLIGENCE CLAIMS

Examples of the type of dental negligence claims with which we deal with are:-

• Failure to diagnose/treat periodontal disease (gum disease).
• Failure to diagnose/treat dental decay (caries).
• Extraction of the wrong tooth.
• Injury to teeth mouth jaw or gums during surgery (for example cuts, lacerations and burns from equipment).
• Failed or poorly performed implant surgery (crowns).
• Inadequate or failed root canal therapy (for treatment of bacterial infection).
• Nerve damage as a result of substandard treatment (resulting in loss of function and feeling).
• Negligent smile makeover (veneers, crowns, etc.).
• Unnecessary treatment (for example fitting of crowns where veneers would have sufficed).

WHAT ELSE CAN I CLAIM FOR?

We understand that in addition to the physical outcome, there may be psychological trauma as well as the outcome maybe disfiguring and cosmetically embarrassing. In those circumstances we will seek to include an element within compensation to take account of this.

Cosmetic dentistry is on the increase with many high street dentists increasingly claiming to be able to provide cosmetic dentistry or smile makeovers, thereby increasing the scope for things to go wrong. There are however some safeguards. There are standards of care and guidelines issued for good practice by The General Dental Council (GDC) and the National Institute for Health Care and Excellence (NICE) against which a surgeon’s competence can be assessed.

We will check whether the dental surgeon is registered with the General Dental Council (GDC) whether they have insurance, for example with Dental Protection in order to meet a claim for compensation.

HOW MUCH CAN I CLAIM?

Here are some examples of awards of compensation made in cases with which our specialists have dealt:-

• Unnecessary provision of veneers to several teeth where the patient, had she been advised that veneers have limited life and need to be replaced every ten years or so at significant cost, would not have had the procedure done – award of compensation including cost of replacement in the future: £25,000.
• Serious damage to and loss of several front teeth – award of compensation: £10,000.

USEFUL LINKS

General Dental Council – www.gdc-uk.org

Dental Protection – www.dentalprotection.org/uk/home

NICE – www.nice.org.uk

Our Medical Negligence Solicitors are backed by four decades of experience. Our legal practice and team of London Solicitors have a strong track record of achieving favourable client outcomes. For expert legal advice use our contact form or call us on 0800 437 0322 today.