Dental Negligence

What is Dental Negligence?

Dental negligence is defined as dental care that falls below the average expected standard of care, as defined by the professional dental body regulating dentists and associated professionals (General Dental Council (GDC)). 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.

What Needs To Be Proved To Make A Succesful Dental Negligence Claim?

Your appointed legal advisor will need to prove 3 things when starting a successful claim against your dentist:

• Provide evidence of the injury that you have suffered at the hands of your dentist or hygienist.

• That your dentist is at fault, either through treatment or lack of treatment.

• Your injury is a direct result of the treatment provided by your dentist (known as causation).

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 work that wasn’t required, such as extractions or fillings on healthy teeth.

• Misdiagnosis of periodontal disease.

• Unnecessary or poor root canal treatment.

• Poor care resulting in unnecessary pain.

• Incorrect or delay in diagnosis – including misdiagnosis of oral cancer.

• Poor cosmetic dentistry leading to pain and suffering.

• Nerve injury.

• Mistakes in treatment leading to the loss or damage of multiple teeth.

Complete our Assessment Form and we will investigate your dental issue and give you advice on whether your claim is worth pursuing.

Assessment Form