Dental negligence claims – what you might need to know.

If you have experienced an injury as a result of negligent dental care, you may be wondering what your options are. Here, our specialist dental negligence team hopes to guide you through the essential information you might need to know when considering a claim for compensation.

Dental negligence refers to both physical and emotional injuries sustained as a result of substandard dental care. It can also include financial loss including past and future medical expenses.

Dental negligence can include delayed or misdiagnoses, substandard dental procedures as well as a failure to obtain consent.

Quite often, an outcome cannot be changed as there are always risks to procedures. However, on occasion, care provided by a dental professional may fall below the standard expected.

Examples of potential substandard care includes:

•  implant failure
• undiagnosed and untreated infections such as gum disease or oral cancer
• cosmetic dentistry mistakes such as poor Invisalign treatment, or veneers
• failed root canal treatment
• incorrect or substandard tooth extractions
• avoidable damage to other teeth
• permanent or temporary nerve damage
• emotional distress, and anxiety

Signs such as pain and discomfort can suggest that something might have gone wrong during a dental procedure. Quite often, signs of substandard treatment can take time to develop however on occasion it is immediately obvious something that has gone wrong.

We deal with a range of cases from substandard crown placements, to nerve injuries, and delayed or misdiagnoses of oral cancer.

Invisalign treatment is a fairly new and popular method used to straighten teeth. Whilst most practitioners carry out the treatment to a good standard, unfortunately there are many cases where the treatment provided has fallen below the standard expected.

RWK Goodman has recently dealt with cases of substandard Invisalign treatment involving excessive interproximal reduction (IPR) during the orthodontic treatment resulting in the need for composite restorations. In some cases of excessive IPR during orthodontic treatment, our clients have been left with visible gaps between their teeth, thus necessitating further treatment including composite bonding, and on some occasions, veneer treatment, or a further course of orthodontic treatment.

Our team have a vast pool of experience in dealing with cases where dental treatment hasn’t always gone to plan. These include substandard root canal treatments, crown placements, implant failures and misdiagnoses. These failures have led to avoidable pain, suffering and loss of amenity as well as the need for avoidable and often expensive future treatment.

Our team has successfully secured compensation for hundreds of patients who have suffered from dental negligence, including delivering record levels of dental negligence compensation.

Yes. By law, all dentists must be registered with the General Dental Council (GDC) and must have appropriate indemnity and insurance arrangements in place in order for patients to seek compensation which they may be entitled to. Therefore even if your dentist at the time is no longer your current treating dentist, or has subsequently retired, they will still be responsible for the treatment they have carried out.

Yes, you can sue an NHS dentist much like you can sue a private dentist. The procedure is exactly the same and will include your legal representative writing to the dentist and asking that he/she informs their defence organisation of a claim against them following which we would usually liaise directly with the defence organisation for the duration of your claim.

The time limits for making different types of legal claims are set out by the Limitation Act 1980. The time limits are also known as a limitation period. The usual time limit for bringing a dental negligence claim is three years. This can be either from the date the Client was injured or the date of knowledge, also known as the when the Client first realised they suffered an injury due to a potential dental negligence.

However, there are some exceptions, such as cases involving minors, vulnerable adults or deceased persons, if:

1. the case involves a minor, the three-year time limit begins to run from the victim’s 18^th birthday, at which point the minor legally becomes an adult;
2. the case involves a vulnerable adult with no mental capacity, there is no time limit for when a dental negligence claim can be brought. However, if the person recovers from their condition, the three-year period begins from the date of recovery;
3. the case involves a deceased person and the person dies within the three-year period since discovering dental negligence, the limitation period begins from the date of death. If the negligence is discovered after the death, the family has three years to begin legal proceedings, with the limitation period beginning upon the discovery of the dental negligence.

If you choose to bring a case with us, you will be working with an exclusive and specialist team dealing solely in dental negligence claims.

Whatever your dental injury, your case will be dealt with by a member of one of the leading teams in this field in England and Wales who have dealt with countless claims, not just relating to dental injuries, but also the physical and emotional trauma directly caused by dental professionals. Our highly experienced team combines legal excellence with empathy, understanding and commitment to always put you first.