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Home » Consumer Information » Medical Malpractice

Dental Malpractice

The laws regarding dental malpractice vary depending on what state you're in, but the broad definition of the term contains the following stipulations:

  • Medical malpractice resulting in an injury caused by careless dental work
  • Failure to recognize or provide care for potentially dangerous oral conditions
  • Any other act of benevolence or intention of the medical professional to inflict harm upon the patient

In order to pursue a dental malpractice lawsuit, the dental care provider is required to have knowingly or unknowingly engaged in some behavior that another dental professional would not have committed had they been in the position to perform a job on the victim. This act also must've resulted in serious injury.

Besides accepting the duty to offer a certain level of care, a dental provider also needs to obtain the patient's consent for any procedure performed. The treatment cannot exceed that of what was originally agreed upon in a contract because the patient ultimately has the final say in regards to the treatment that they undergo. If the dental care provider fails to abide by this code of conduct, the patient may retain the right to file a dental malpractice claim. Patients must remember that a dentist cannot guarantee satisfaction 100 percent of the time, so a lawsuit cannot be brought against a dental professional if the procedure was unsuccessful or did not live up to the patient's expectations.

Legal action can only be taken if the dental professional breaches the acceptable standard of care and if the patient sustains an injury as a result of that violation of care due to the professional's ineptitude, carelessness, or mal intent. There are times when a dental professional may be found guilty of purposely injuring or conducting themselves improperly with a patient (e.g., molestation while the patient is sedated). In essence, the dental professional's breach of the standard of care must be the definitive cause of the patient's harm regardless of whether it was intentional or unintentional.

If you have experienced any of the following injuries or poor dental practices at the hands of a dentist, orthodontist, endodontist, periodontist, etc., you have the opportunity to seek compensation for your suffering by filing a dental malpractice claim.

  • Temporary or permanent damage to the nerves in the tongue, jaw, chin, and/or lips. This includes injury to the lingual nerve of the tongue and inferior alveolar nerve injury of the lips, chin, and jaw.
  • Temporary or permanent loss of feeling or taste
  • Temporary or permanent structural damage to the tongue, jaw, chin, or lips
  • Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder
  • Wrongful death due to routine dental procedure or oral surgery
  • Injury or fatality caused by improper dosage of anesthesia
  • Failure to recognize or provide treatment for oral cancer
  • Failure to recognize or provide treatment for periodontal gum disease
  • Unpunctual or poor identification of an oral disease or other disorder
  • Postponed or unacceptable treatment or the failure to treat an oral disease or other disorder
  • Injury related to a root canal in which Sargenti Paste was used
  • Injury or infection to teeth, gums, or mandible due to ineffective root canal, crown, and bridge prostheses
  • Injury caused by maltreatment of dentist practicing without a license
  • Infection to teeth, gums, or jaw from defective dental products (e.g., drills, lasers, silicone implants)
  • Injury related to tooth extraction or the extraction of perfectly healthy teeth
  • Subpar orthodontic work on adults and/or kids
  • Failure of dental professional to establish an agreement prior to completing procedure
  • Treatment goes beyond what was originally agreed upon
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