A dental negligence claim can compensate someone who has suffered unnecessarily due to substandard care. If you’ve endured avoidable harm because of negligent dental care, you may already be aware of how a person’s health and finances can be impacted. In this guide, you’ll learn how you could claim compensation for the suffering and associated financial loss you’ve experienced as a result of dental negligence.
This guide will start by examining the eligibility criteria for starting a dental negligence compensation claim. We’ll also provide some examples of dental negligence claims and reveal what factors may be considered when calculating compensation.
Then, we’ll walk you through the claims process, including whether there are deadlines for pursuing compensation and what evidence can be helpful. Finally, we’ll explore how our panel of solicitors can help you make a claim through a No Win No Fee agreement.
If you’ve suffered because of dental negligence, contact our team today for free, no-obligation advice and see if you could claim:
- Ask about your claim online with our web form.
- Call us on 0330 123 0546.
- Can I Make A Dental Negligence Claim?
- How Much Dental Negligence Compensation Could I Get?
- Is There A Dental Negligence Claim Time Limit?
- The Common Examples Of Negligence Dental Care
- What Evidence Will I Need To Claim Dental Negligence Compensation?
- What Can Our Panel Of Solicitors Help With?
- Learn More
Can I Make A Dental Negligence Claim?
Yes, you can make a dental negligence claim if it can be demonstrated that you meet specific criteria:
- You were owed a duty of care.
- That duty ended up being breached.
- The breach caused you to suffer avoidable harm, such as nerve damage.
Those who perform dental treatment have a duty to provide patients with the correct standard of care. This duty of care applies to all dental professionals, including dentists, technicians, and nurses. To help meet those expectations, the General Dental Council (GDC) provides dental teams with standards and guidance.
If you are harmed because you receive dental care that falls below expected standards, then you may have grounds to claim compensation. However, it needs to be pointed out that there are risks involved in all dental procedures, and things can go wrong even when negligence is not the cause. We’ll show some examples of potentially valid dental negligence claims later on in this guide.
For free advice and to get help with checking your eligibility, please speak to one of our team members today.
How Much Dental Negligence Compensation Could I Get?
How much dental negligence compensation you can get in a successful claim depends on many factors, such as the severity of your injuries. In a dental negligence claim, there are 2 types of damages:
- General damages: For physical harm, mental health impacts, and affect on quality of life (termed loss of amenity).
- Special damages: For related financial losses and expenses, such as the cost of further treatment.
To help assess the potential value of general damages, solicitors may refer to a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). It publishes suggested compensation brackets for various forms of harm, including those affecting the teeth and jaw.
Below is a table that includes some figures from the publication. This table is for guidance purposes only and is not a guarantee of compensation, as every dental negligence claim is case dependent. Please note that the first entry in the table is not from the JCG.
| Harm | Severity | Notes | Compensation Guideline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple Forms of Severe Harm and Special Damages | Very Severe | Multiple severe forms of harm and special damages, such as loss of income or further medical treatment. | Up to £500,000+ |
| Facial Disfigurement | Very Severe Scarring | Cases involve claimants who are relatively (usually from teenage years to early 30s), with a very disfiguring cosmetic effect and severe psychological reaction. | £36,340 to £118,790 |
| Less Severe Scarring | Disfigurement will be substantial and psychological reaction is significant. | £21,920 to £59,090 | |
| Skeletal | Fractures of Jaws (i) | Serious fractures needing protracted treatment, resulting in life-long issues such as pain that is severe, risk of arthritis developing in the joints, restrictive eating and/or paraesthesia. | £37,210 to £55,570 |
| Fractures of Jaws (ii) | A serious fracture that leads to permanent issues like problems with eating or opening your mouth, or paraesthesia in the jaw. | £21,920 to £37,210 | |
| Damage to Teeth | Tooth pain will be significant and chronic over a number of years. There will be significant deterioration in the condition of teeth overall. | Up to £46,540 | |
| Damage to Teeth (i) | Loss and/or serious damage to multiple front teeth. | £10,660 to £13,930 | |
| Impairment of Taste and Smell | Loss of Taste | Claimant will have suffered a loss of taste. | £23,430 to £30,500 |
| Psychiatric Damage Generally | Moderate | Claimant may have experienced problems like life, work, and education being affected, but there will be marked improved and prognosis will be good. | £7,150 to £23,270 |
How The Amount Of Compensation Is Calculated
Several factors can influence the amount of dental negligence compensation you may be awarded:
- Severity: As an example, nerve damage can lead to paralysis or other permanent disabilities.
- Location: For instance, damage to front teeth may have an impact on appearance and self-esteem.
- Emotional trauma and pain: Psychological harm caused by negligent treatment can lead to long-term problems like depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Prognosis: There may be long-lasting problems impacting your recovery, such as nerve damage affecting your ability to eat, drink, or communicate.
- Loss of amenity: As touched on earlier in this guide, a loss of amenity refers to how your enjoyment of life has been affected. For example, you may no longer be able to perform daily activities, or you might avoid social events because of the harm you suffered.
What Financial Losses Do Special Damages Cover?
Special damages can cover a range of financial losses so long as they are provable with evidence, such as bank statements and payslips. For instance, you could claim for:
- Prescriptions, private healthcare costs, and further treatment to address issues like tooth damage.
- Travel expenses incurred while attending medical appointments.
- Counselling and therapy if you suffered psychological harm because of negligent dental treatment.
- Occupational or relaxation therapy to help with harm like nerve damage.
- Lost income from taking time off work. You may also be compensated for future loss of earnings.
To discuss special damages and dental negligence compensation more generally, please reach out to our team of advisors. They’re here 24/7 to answer any questions you might have.
Is There A Dental Negligence Claim Time Limit?
As set out in the Limitation Act 1980, there is a 3-year dental negligence claim time limit. This time limit means you have to begin a claim within that 3-year window, which may apply from:
- The date of the dental negligence.
- Or the date you reasonably became aware of the negligence.
However, the act makes exceptions for 2 groups who cannot make a claim on their own:
- Those under the age of 18: The 3-year limit is put on hold until a child turns 18, meaning they can bring a claim up to their 21st birthday.
- Those who lack sufficient mental capacity: For adults who are mentally incapacitated, the time limit is frozen indefinitely unless they regain the ability to claim for themselves. If mental capacity does return, then the usual 3 years apply from the date of recovery.
In both cases, a trusted adult (usually a parent or a solicitor) can act as a litigation friend to launch a claim on another’s behalf. This role requires the litigation friend to perform various duties in the best interests of the person they’re representing.
If you’re unsure whether you’re within the time limit, our advisors can help and provide further guidance.
The Common Examples Of Negligence Dental Care
Here are some common examples of negligent dental care that may lead to a valid compensation claim.
Delayed Diagnosis
A delay in diagnosing conditions like oral cancer or gum disease because of negligent dental care can lead to tooth loss, pain, or the need for extensive treatment.
- Example: Despite presenting with symptoms of gingivitis, your dentist ignores the noticeable signs during your check-up and doesn’t order scans. As a result of this delayed diagnosis, your condition worsens, leading to severe gum disease and tooth loss.
Unnecessary Treatment
If dental negligence results in unnecessary treatment, such as extracting a healthy tooth, it can cause lasting physical and psychological damage.
- Example: A dentist performs root canal treatment on a healthy tooth after they misinterpret imaging scans, leaving you with permanent nerve damage and a fractured jaw.
Wrong Tooth Extraction
Extracting the wrong tooth can leave patients with ongoing pain and the need for corrective dental work, including implants or dentures. It can also result in psychological distress, particularly when visible teeth are affected.
- Example: Your dentist misreads your patient files, leading them to extract a number of your incisors instead of a wisdom tooth. This causes you to develop severe depression and leaves you needing to undergo additional procedures.
Misdiagnosis
Misdiagnosing symptoms can lead to incorrect or delayed treatment. Dental negligence may be at fault in a scenario like the following:
- Example: A dentist doesn’t adequately perform a check-up on your teeth, resulting in them mistaking an abscess for a toothache. This misdiagnosis means the infection spreads, culminating in life-threatening sepsis.
Poor Standard Of Treatment
Using unsterile equipment, poor hygiene, or failing to anaesthetise properly can result in infections, trauma, or ongoing oral health issues.
- Example: A dentist uses excessive force while administering anaesthesia during an implant procedure, causing you to develop an infection and suffer severe fractures.
Failure To Refer
If a general dentist fails to refer you to a specialist when necessary, such as an oral surgeon or orthodontist, this can lead to a worsening condition or missed diagnosis.
- Example: Your dentist notices that you have symptoms of oral cancer during a routine check-up but takes no action to refer you to a specialist. This failure allows the cancer to spread, making it harder to treat and leading to facial disfigurement.
Failure To Obtain Consent
Carrying out a dental procedure without obtaining informed consent from a patient, causing them to suffer unnecessarily, may be negligence. You should be made aware of the risks, benefits, and alternatives to the proposed treatment.
- Example: You are not given any information about an implant procedure, but the dentist decides to proceed anyway. Subsequently, you suffer facial nerve damage that affects your speech and ability to eat.
Cosmetic Dentistry Errors
Mistakes during cosmetic dentistry procedures, such as veneers, crowns, or whitening, can result in infections and damage to healthy teeth.
- Example: Your dentist fails to conduct adequate pre-op planning before fitting an implant. This results in them using an implant that is too long, causing nerves to be damaged after being compressed.
If you have had a similar experience to any of the above examples or want to talk about your specific circumstances, contact our team and see if you can make a claim for dental negligence.
What Evidence Will I Need To Claim Dental Negligence Compensation?
To successfully claim dental negligence compensation, you’ll need strong evidence. Examples include:
- Dental records: Including treatment notes, X-rays, and test results.
- Medical records: Highlighting the extent of your harm, the need for further treatment, and the overall prognosis.
- Photographs: Before-and-after images that might illustrate poor dental treatment.
- Witness contact details: From family members, chaperones, or friends who attended your appointments, a solicitor can use contact information to collect statements for your case.
- Symptom diary: Detailing physical pain, emotional distress, and disruption to daily life.
If you work with a specialist solicitor from our panel, you can be guided through the process of gathering evidence and get help with obtaining proof for your claim.
Speak with our advisors now to find out more and see what evidence might be needed for your case.
What Can Our Panel Of Solicitors Help With?
Our panel of solicitors handle claims under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), a type of No Win No Fee arrangement. This arrangement means you can make a dental negligence claim without worrying about escalating solicitor fees.
Here’s how it works:
- You pay no solicitor fees upfront.
- You don’t pay any additional fees for your solicitor’s services as your claim moves forward.
- You have no solicitor fees to pay at all if your claim is unsuccessful.
- If you win compensation, then a success fee is deducted from your compensation to cover your solicitor’s work. The percentage is capped, so you’ll keep most of what you receive.
We work with a panel of solicitors who have extensive experience handling dental negligence claims. They approach each claim with the utmost professionalism and support their clients every step of the way.
Contact Medical Negligence Solicitors UK Co
If you’re ready to start your dental negligence claim, contact our advisors now. They’re here to help 24/7:
- Ask about making a claim online through our contact form.
- Call us on 0330 123 0546.
Learn More
Learn more information through these useful links:
- Learn about cosmetic surgery claims.
- Read about sepsis compensation.
- Find out about medical negligence claims.
Alternatively, you can read external resources such as:
- The General Dental Council’s guide on how to raise concerns about dental professionals.
- An NHS guide on the main treatments carried out by dentists.
- This government guide can help you to understand Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).
Thank you for reading our guide on making a dental negligence claim.