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Dental Negligence Claims
Reviewed by
Peter Rigby - Director of Medical Negligence
We've got your Dental Negligence Claim covered
- No win No fee
- Not just lawyers - real specialists
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- UK's highest-rated medical negligence solicitors
Dental Negligence Claims
Dental negligence occurs when your dentist or any other healthcare professional that is providing you with dental care has failed to provide adequate care. Dental negligence can include many instances such as misdiagnosis, delayed treatment or inadequate care that has led to injury or harm to the patient. Dental negligence can affect a patient’s physical health and their financial and mental wellbeing. If you have experienced any form of dental negligence, you may be able to claim for compensation.
As the number of dental practitioners decreases, you may have been unable to access routine or emergency care. And, if mistakes are made during dental treatment, you could find yourself facing extensive corrective treatment that is not only painful, but also extremely expensive if the dentist in question does not accept the mistake or offer to put things right. Mistakes are made both by NHS dentists and private dentists. Both have the same duty to you as the patient.
If you have been on the receiving end of a mistake during treatment with either a private or NHS dentist, you may be looking for a specialist dental negligence solicitor to investigate the matter on your behalf and ensure you get the right compensation. This is where Patient Claim Line can help.
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What is dental negligence?
Dental negligence is substandard care provided by a dental professional that causes harm to a patient. In order for a treatment to be classed as negligent, the care must have fallen below what is reasonable for a professional under those circumstances. This is usually assessed by an independent expert in the field. The law defines negligence as a breach of duty of care that results in damage.
What types of dental negligence are there?
As specialist dental negligence solicitors, we regularly handle a whole host of dental claims, but some of the most common examples that we deal with include:
- Negligence claims due to careless work
- Negligence claims due to incorrect or inadequate work
- Misdiagnosis or missed diagnosis
- Extraction of wrong tooth
- Periodontal Negligence
- Failed dental procedure
- Poor dental treatment, failure to provide treatment plan, or dentist failed diagnosis
- Dental infection, failure to take adequate radiology, failure to remove unintended foreign objects during treatment, or failure to give preventative advice and oral hygiene
If you are left in pain due to dental negligence, either private or under the NHS, first and foremost you may be entitled to compensation for that unnecessary period of suffering. However, if there is a delay in reaching a conclusion about the medical mistake, then you could be left either with longer term pain, problems with the appearance of your teeth, or the possibility of having to pay privately to put things right. 13.4% of people now think they can’t get an NHS dentist appointment. At Patient Claim Line, we believe everyone is entitled to responsive and fair dental treatment, and can look into your claim for delayed or misdiagnosed dental care.
Am I eligible to make a dental negligence claim?
Every dentist, whether working under the NHS or being paid privately, has a duty to perform the right and proper procedures. If you believe that your dentist has been negligent towards you and you are left with pain and/or treatment costs, you may be entitled to compensation and to recover those treatment costs. Some evidence suggests tooth decay is higher in the North than the South, but wherever you are in the UK, Patient Claim Line can help. At Patient Claim Line, we’re not only dental solicitors, we’re medical negligence experts too. We specialise in getting the right compensation for medical negligence victims, and have many years of experience handling dental negligence claims. Get in touch for a no obligation conversation with our expert team.
How to prove dental negligence?
When we take on dental negligence, we must have access to evidence that you suffered unnecessarily, or that your condition worsened, because of a lack of care. This includes medical records, dental records, photographs of injuries, and a detailed statement about what you experienced. We also gather evidence from independent dental experts who prepare reports on your treatment and the results of that treatment. These experts weigh in on whether your dental treatment was below the usual and expected standard of care. Your legal team will arrange all of this for you, so it is important that you are open and honest with your case handler and able to provide as much detail as possible.
The impact of COVID-19 on dental treatment
Coronavirus has undoubtedly had a serious impact on our health services, and that includes dental services, with reports that patients could be waiting up to three years for dental treatment following the pandemic. In a bid to improve the situation, dentists have been ordered to reach 45% of their pre-pandemic levels.
19 million fewer treatments were offered in England between March and October in 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. Such delays can cause unnecessary suffering and irreparable damage. In cases such as these, you could be entitled to compensation relative to your suffering. When avoidable pain, injury or a worsening of your condition occurs due to unnecessary delays, this can be a traumatic experience – speak to our specialist medical negligence solicitors today to discuss your case.
Why choose Patient Claim Line for your dental negligence claim?
At Patient Claim Line we have more than 100 solicitors with combined experience of over 400 years and they will work on your behalf to achieve the best result possible for you.
It’s not enough to use a solicitor who sometimes covers medical negligence. You need someone who knows this area through and through. That is what the solicitors here at Patient Claim Line do. We deal exclusively in this area of law and are experts in the field. We also work exclusively on a no win no fee basis for all dental negligence claims meaning you don’t have to pay any upfront costs and it costs nothing to find out if you could make a claim.
Why Choose Patient Claim Line for your Dental Negligence Claim?
Not just lawyers — medical negligence experts
Patient Claim Line was established in 2014 and consists of a team of medical lawyers specialising in cancer negligence and general medical negligence claims.
At Patient Claim Line we have more than 100 solicitors with a combined experience of over 400 years and they will work on your behalf to achieve the best result possible for you.
It’s not enough to use a solicitor who sometimes covers medical negligence. You need someone who knows this area through and through. That is what the solicitors here at Patient Claim Line do. They deal exclusively in this area of law and are experts in the field.
Frequently asked questions about Dental Negligence Claims
Our expert legal team answer your questions about making a Dental Negligence Claim
The amount of compensation you can claim for a dental negligence case varies on the complexity of the circumstances and the severity of the long-term impact. When we take on your case, we consider the financial implications of any additional dental treatment you were given to put things right, the emotional distress caused, any loss of earnings that directly relate to your recovery time and any avoidable suffering, such as unnecessary dental procedures or teeth which have been lost. Each dental negligence case is settled on a case by case basis, and the amount of compensation secured will reflect this. We use specialist dental reports to understand what went wrong and what needs to be done to put things right. To calculate your dental negligence compensation we will include the cost of any corrective treatment as part of your claim. In addition, we will ensure you receive the maximum level of compensation to account for your pain, suffering and any impact the error has had on your day to day life.
On average, processing a dental negligence claim generally takes between 12 and 18 months. However, if the case is particularly complex, settlement can take much longer. When you come onboard with us, you will be assigned a specialist solicitor with experience in settling difficult dental negligence cases. This level of expertise means that we are well versed in the specific documentation and strategies a dental negligence case requires, and we will be in touch with you regularly throughout the progress of your claim.
In short, yes you can make a claim for cosmetic dental negligence. You may have been affected in different ways such as your teeth being weakened, a loss of your tooth’s substance if your teeth weren’t cooled correctly during the veneer preparation or a loss of tooth sensitivity after having white composite fillings.
The types of treatment you can claim in relation to include cosmetic bonding, smile makeovers, dental implants, gum contouring, braces, dental veneers, and dentures. Where any of these treatments were carried out negligently, you may be entitled to make a claim.
Dentists should ensure the proper procedures are in place to spot the signs of oral cancer strep away, and follow the appropriate steps so that their patient receives the best quality of care. Therefore, you may be entitled to make a dental negligence claim, if your dentist failed to diagnose your oral cancer when they had the opportunity to.
If you have suffered negligent dental treatment, you may be able to make a claim no matter if you are an NHS or private patient. If your negligent treatment occurred in an NHS hospital or practice, you would be bringing a claim against the appropriate NHS Trust the hospital or practice falls under.
Making a claim against the NHS does not mean that if your claim is successful, your compensation fee would be taken from the NHS. Claims against the NHS are settled through the NHS Resolution; a specific NHS body set up by the Government to act as an insurer, for the specific purpose of funding compensation when medical negligence pay-outs are made.
When making a dental negligence claim, there is a three year time limit from when you believe you have received negligent dental care. After three years have passed, it is unlikely that you will be able to make a claim, however there are some exceptions to the three year time limit:
- If you are making a dental negligence claim on behalf of a child, there is no time limit until the child turns 18 years old. As soon as the child turns 18, the three year time limit will then apply.
- If you are claiming on behalf of someone who does not have the ability to make a dental negligence claim, there is no time limit.
If you are unsure about whether or not you can still make a claim, give us a call and our dental negligence experts will be able to assess your claim and see whether or not you could be entitled to compensation due to dental negligence.
Meet our Dental Negligence Team
Case Study
Sarah's Story
"Now we have peace of mind"
My husband, Nick, went back and forth to the doctors for a long time and tried everything the doctor recommended. But his illness got worse, to the point that he was in agony.
In the end we got so desperate that we asked for a referral. The doctor was reluctant, so we had to consult a private hospital. That’s when we found out there was a tumour. It took years from the onset of his illness to finally start cancer treatment.
He used to be a man with a lot to live for, but in the end he was in so much pain that he withdrew from the family. He became angry that nobody had helped him sooner, and the legal team were able to give him the validation that he was desperately seeking. The NHS confirmed if they had done more, Nick would still be alive today.