With around 40 million dental treatments carried out in the UK each year, it is inevitable that some treatments or dentists will prove to have caused injury, Dental negligence claims are, unfortunately, something that do happen on a regular basis.  

 

The most common causes of negligence claims were extractions (24%), root canal treatment (20%) and cavities or filling treatments (17%). Whatever happened and whatever process was taking place, if you believe your dentist was negligent, get in touch with MG Legal’s specialist dental surgery negligence solicitors for a free of charge assessment with a view to accepting your claim on a no win, no fee basis. 

Not at all, with many physical injuries comes an element of psychological injury, from anxiety over visiting another dentist, to worries about the cost of the rectification treatment. In the cases of more serious physical injuries can come more significant trauma related symptoms. 

This is a common question we are asked and the truth is that until we have full medical evidence, we can’t be totally sure. Personal injury claims are evidenced primarily in a report from a medical expert, in this instance likely a dentist and potentially a psychologist if you have psychological symptoms. This evidence is then assessed by your specialist personal injury solicitor using, amongst other things, the Judicial Studies Board Guidelines, known as the “JSB”. The JSB is a regularly updated reference book, containing ranges of awards for all types of injuries based on recent awards at Court. This book can be found on the desk or in the briefcase of any solicitor, barrister or Judge and is the first port-of-call when assessing claims for personal injury. This aspect of your claim is known as General Damages, it is your compensation for the personal injury you have suffered. 

 

The remainder of your claim is called Special Damages, an award for the money which you have paid out because of the negligence or have lost out on. So, amongst these losses would be additional medical expenses, travel costs, care costs and future treatment costs for both necessary and cosmetic work. Also included would be any lost earnings due to absences from work. 

 

Together these losses form a “global” settlement which MG Legal’s expert solicitors will ensure is appropriate for your claim before you decide to agree settlement. If you believe you have lost money, or paid out unnecessarily because of dental negligence, tell your expert dental negligence solicitor and they will advise you on how to claim this loss back from your negligent dentist. 

Subject to the Limitation Act 1980, if you have been injured as a result of dental surgery you have three years from the date of negligence, or the date you know about the negligence, to pursue a claim for personal injury. So, if your surgeon makes a clear error on the day, your three years would start straight away, however, if everything appears ok to start with and then you later find out about an issue, say your teeth are later found to be damaged or the work is substandard and fails long before it is expected to, your three years starts from the day you find out this information. There are exceptions, for those under 18 years old at time of the injury, in that minors have three years from their 18th birthday within which to make a personal injury claim.  

At MG Legal, each solicitor takes a personal interest in each case and we have a dedicated team of solicitors dealing with cosmetic surgery claims, including dental surgery gone wrong. Our team is well versed in the always relevant pieces of Case Law such a Bolam v Friern and Montgomery v Lanarkshire, as well as having extensive experience of dealing with all types of injury and settling claims successfully at all stages of the process. We believe that our confidence in our own ability is demonstrated by the fact that every personal injury claim we accept is on the basis of a Conditional Fee Agreement, also known as a no win no fee agreement, which means that if we do not succeed for our client, we do not get paid for our work.