What Counts As A Dental Negligence Claim?
March 12, 2021
Dental negligence can cause extreme amounts of pain. When something goes wrong with a tooth or teeth, it can be excruciating. When the pain is made worse by incorrect or inadequate treatment, it can be even worse. That is why, if this has happened to you, you may be able to make a dental negligence claim.
Examples of Dental Negligence
There are many ways in which dental negligence can occur. Some of these include:
- Extracting the wrong tooth
- Poor quality products and incorrect techniques used in a tooth whitening process
- Not extracting a decayed tooth
- Incorrectly conducting anaesthesia.
- Causing nerve damage during a surgical process.
- Inserting crowns and/or fillings poorly.
- Not diagnosing and treating gum disease.
- Failure to diagnose and refer suspected cases of oral cancer.
- Errors in interpreting dental x-rays and test results.
- Negligent orthodontic treatment situations.
- Dental implant negligence.
- Negligent root canal treatment.
- Negligent wisdom teeth extraction.
- Undiagnosed periodontal disease.
If any of these things happen to you and it makes your condition worse or results in work having to be done that you would not have needed otherwise, then you may be able to make a claim. This may also be the case if it causes you to lose teeth. Dental negligence can be caused by an NHS dentist or a private dentist.
Effects of Dental Treatment vs Dental Negligence
There are some side effects of dental treatment that may not be dental negligence. For example, if you have had treatment that was more uncomfortable due to the anaesthetic failing to numb your mouth causing pain. Because this pain is usually short-lived, this would not be enough to claim for dental negligence.
To claim for dental negligence, something must have gone wrong in your treatment, which causes long-lasting pain or damage to your teeth that would not have happened if the treatment had been adequate.
It is possible to claim compensation if you have suffered due to negligent treatment from either an NHS dentist or private practice. The difference in claiming from the NHS is that they have a particular organisation that handles all their compensation claims.
Moreover, they have a well-defined complaints process. You can raise a complaint and a compensation claim separately. Depending on the findings of the complaint investigation, you may have more evidence to support your claim.
What Evidence Do I Need for a Dental Negligence Claim?
As the claimant, it is your role to show your dentist’s breach of duty of care. Ergo, you suffered a personal injury as a result. They agreed to undertake a duty of care when they accepted you as a patient. Your dental records can also help support your claim.
An independent dental expert can then provide a report showing the extent of your injury and likely prognosis. Other evidence which can be used to support your claim includes photographs of your injury and how it affects you, and records of correspondence between you and your dentist.
How We Can Help
Here at The Medical Negligence Experts we work with solicitors who have years of experience dealing with all kinds of medical negligence. This includes dental negligence. Contact us today by filling in the contact form or by calling us on 01614138761 to speak to one of our friendly knowledgeable advisors.