Philadelphia Dental Malpractice Lawyer

Dental malpractice is more than just subpar work. For a dental malpractice lawsuit to be successful, your legal team must be able to prove at least one of the following:

• Your dentist didn’t provide care aligned with acceptable standards
• Your dentist intentionally did something no other dentist would do in the same circumstances
• Your dentist provided care you didn’t consent to
• Your injury was directly caused by the dentist’s negligence or incompetence

These elements can be challenging to grasp out of context, so here’s an example of each.

Your Dentist Failed to Provide Care Aligned With Acceptable Standards

How do you define “standard of care” in dentistry? In the legal world, the “standard of care” is what a reasonable and ethical dentist would do in the same situation.

For example, when you come in to have your teeth cleaned, a reasonable dentist will look for early signs of oral cancer. If your dentist fails to diagnose you until the cancer is very advanced, you might have a case for dental malpractice.

Your Dentist Intentionally Did Something No Other Dentist Would Do in the Same Circumstances

A dentist may reasonably be accused of malpractice if they fail to act appropriately. On the other end of the spectrum, acting in a way that no other reasonable dentist would might also constitute malpractice. For example, if you have a small cavity, a reasonable dentist would give you a filling — they would not extract the entire tooth.

Your Dentist Provided Care You Didn’t Consent To

With both medical and dental care, a practitioner needs to have your informed consent. As a dental patient, you should be notified of the risks associated with any treatments you’re considering. Your care provider should also make sure you understand alternative treatment options.

For example, while many people can successfully get dental implants, there is always a risk of implant failure. This means the bone doesn’t properly grow around the implant.

When this happens, the implant may need to be removed. You also might need a bone graft. Your jaw will usually need time to heal before your oral surgeon can determine whether placing another implant is a good idea.

If your oral surgeon tells you you need dental implants, doesn’t tell you about the risks, and you suffer implant rejection as a result, you may have a case for dental malpractice. In this scenario, your lawyer could successfully argue that if you had been fully informed of the risks of dental implants, you would not have consented to treatment.

Your Injury Was Directly Caused by the Dentist’s Negligence or Incompetence

Suffering a complication of a dental procedure doesn’t automatically mean you are a victim of dental malpractice. A successful dental malpractice case involves proving that it was negligence or incompetence — not the simple fact that you had a dental procedure — that caused your injury.

For instance, some pain and even minor infections are possible after a dental implant. These symptoms alone aren’t evidence of malpractice. However, if you have long-lasting nerve pain because the implant placement was performed incorrectly, you might have a case for malpractice.

Just because there was a complication in your procedure doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the victim of malpractice. If there’s no lasting physical damage and another dentist can redo the work, or if you suffered a complication that was not the direct result of a dental mistake, it’s unlikely that the dentist can be blamed for malpractice.

Here are a few situations that may be painful or uncomfortable but don’t constitute malpractice by themselves:

Dry Socket After a Tooth Extraction

Dry socket is a very common complication of tooth extractions. When a tooth is removed, a blood clot should form in the socket that remains. This protects the exposed nerves and speeds up the healing process. However, dry socket occurs when the blood clot is removed or doesn’t form correctly, in which case you may experience severe pain and require additional treatment. If you experience dry socket after an extraction, that alone would not be evidence of malpractice.

Dental Instruments Breaking Off in a Root Canal

At first, this might sound like malpractice. However, if part of a tool (like a file) breaks off during a root canal and remains stuck in the canal, the dentist is not guilty of malpractice.

However, the dentist must inform you of the incident and refer you to a specialist to resolve the issue. If the broken piece is not fully removed, it could lead to nerve damage, and if the dentist fails to disclose the breakage to you, they can indeed be held liable for malpractice.

Minor Injuries or Temporary Pain

Minor mistakes generally don’t constitute malpractice. For example, if you are genetically disposed to need more numbing material in order to be completely numb, you will likely experience unnecessary pain during your treatment. If this happens, all you have to do is inform your dentist, who will apply extra numbing material.

Your gums might be temporarily inflamed and uncomfortable from the multiple injections, and receiving dental work while not fully numb can be quite painful, but because there’s no serious injury or misconduct by your dentist, this wouldn’t be a viable malpractice case.

Like medical malpractice, dental malpractice is a highly complex and nuanced area of the law. If you think you may be a victim of dental malpractice but aren’t sure, we invite you to schedule a free consultation with us. Our attorneys can review your case and tell you whether you may be a good candidate for a dental malpractice lawsuit.

In the legal world, “damages” refers to payment for losses you have suffered. Depending on the details of your case, you might be able to receive compensation for certain losses.

Cost to Repair or Redo Faulty Dental Work

If your dentist is negligent or makes a serious error, you likely won’t want to go back to the same dentist to have the work redone. The cost to undo poor dental work and then redo the necessary procedure can be substantial, but unfortunately, this is far from the only cost associated with dental malpractice.

Cost of Dental Equipment or Prosthetics

Some cases of dental malpractice can’t be fixed without specialized equipment, and that equipment can be expensive. For example, if an orthodontist makes significant errors while treating a patient with braces, the patient may need treatment with headgear to correct the issue.

Additional Medical Costs

Often, cases of dental malpractice require more than just dental follow-up. For instance, if you develop a severe infection because of a dentist’s error, you may have to pay for emergency medical treatment to get the infection under control.

If you suffer an injury that causes numbness in your lips, you may have to pay for speech therapy to learn how to speak normally again.

Lost Wages

Most dental procedures require you to take little or no time off work. However, if you have a substantial infection or other injury, you may be unable to work for a considerable period of time. If this is the case, you deserve to be compensated for what you would have earned had your dentist not been negligent.

Non-Economic Losses

Losses that can be easily quantified, like medical bills or lost wages, are known as “economic losses.” However, dental malpractice can lead to major losses you can’t necessarily put a dollar sign on. These are called “non-economic losses,” and you deserve to be compensated for them, too.

One common example is disfigurement. If you have a major injury that requires reconstructive surgery, you may be left with noticeable facial scarring. That can cause significant psychological distress.

Because there’s no way to return your face to how it was before the scarring, financial compensation is intended to help make up for the negative impact the botched procedure has had on your life. Here are some other possible examples of non-economic losses:

• Physical pain
• Loss of quality of life
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment

Calculating non-economic damages in any dental malpractice can be very difficult. When you book a free consultation with us, our team will be able to assess your case and give you an estimate of what it may be worth.

Many personal injury firms must consult with an outside dental professional when working on dental malpractice claims, but Gay Chacker & Ginsburg stands out for having a practicing dentist on our legal team.

Dr. Brendan Mulligan is both an attorney and a practicing dentist, and he serves double duty as our in-house consultant for dental malpractice cases. Because Dr. Mulligan understands the nuances of dentistry and has extensive experience as a trial lawyer, he can review patient records in-house and craft powerful arguments for his clients — and his approach gets results.

For example, Dr. Mulligan recently fought for a client whose dentist failed to diagnose oral cancer. By the time the cancer was diagnosed, it had grown so significantly that the patient needed reconstructive surgery. Thanks to Dr. Mulligan’s experience and knowledge, we were able to secure a seven-figure victory for our client.