What is Dental Negligence?
Dental negligence covers any type of injury that has been directly caused, made worse or overlooked by your dentist or associated health professional. Dentists like other health professionals are required by law to provide a high standard of care for their patients, mainly due to the permanent, visible and expensive impact dental treatment has on a person’s health and wellbeing. Dental negligence claims can be made for any accident or oversight that has caused you to suffer physical injury, caused financial loss or harmed your wellbeing.
Time Limit
You have three years from the date of the negligent treatment to make your injury claim. If, however you have only just realised or found out that you have been the victim of dental negligence, you have the right to claim within the 3 years of discovering the issue. This is known as the date of knowledge and the three years will usually start from the date of knowledge. However, this requires an assessment from a legal or dental professional.
Examples Of Dental Negligence
Your appointed legal advisor will need to prove 3 things when starting a successful claim against your dentist:
Wrongful extraction of teeth, or even a lack of care when it was required.
Unnecessary or poor root canal treatment.
Poor cosmetic dentistry leading to pain and suffering.
Unnecessary work that wasn’t required, such as extractions or fillings on healthy teeth.
Poor care resulting in unnecessary pain.
Nerve injury.
Misdiagnosis of periodontal disease.
Incorrect or delay in diagnosis – including misdiagnosis of oral cancer.
Mistakes in treatment leading to the loss or damage of multiple teeth.
