Wrong Tooth Extraction Compensation – How To Claim Against A Dentist

The standard of dental care in the UK is generally very high. With both NHS and private dental practices available for tooth extractions, there there are plenty of options available to most patients. During your normal appointment, your dentist should check the health of your teeth, identify any issues and plan for treatment where necessary.

On some occasions, the only thing that can be done is for a tooth to be removed. While this might seem daunting for some, it is quite a routine procedure that should pass without any problems. However, mistakes can be made and, sometimes, this can result in the wrong tooth being removed. As this should never happen, you could be compensated for any suffering caused. In this article on claiming compensation for wrong tooth extraction, we’ll explain when you could be entitled to compensation and show you how the claims process works.

Our dental negligence team are here to support you if you are thinking of claiming. To start, an advisor will review your claim during a no-obligation consultation. During that call, you’ll receive free legal advice about your chances of being compensated. If your claim seems to be suitable, we’ll ask a medical negligence solicitor on our panel to talk to you. If they decide to take your case on, it will become less stressful because of their No Win, No Fee service. That means you’ll only pay solicitor’s fees if your claim is won. Furthermore, you won’t be asked to pay for your solicitor’s work in advance either.

To talk to us right away about claiming compensation if your dentist pulled the wrong tooth, please call us on 0800 652 1345. Otherwise, please continue reading to find out more.

Did your dentist need to carry out a tooth extraction?

There are several reasons why teeth need to be extracted by dentists. One common reason is if you’ve got an infection in the tooth that’s causing a lot of pain. Extraction of the tooth may be necessary to prevent the condition from worsening or to stop the infection from spreading. Gum disease is another reason that a tooth might need to be extracted. In this scenario, it might be necessary for multiple teeth to be removed if too much damage has occurred in the supporting gums and bone.

Where there’s no other option, your dentist might recommend that you have a tooth extracted. Of course, if this is the recommended course of action, it’s important that the correct tooth is removed. If the dentist pulls out the wrong tooth, it’s likely that dental negligence has occurred and you could be compensated as a result.

Can I claim compensation for a wrong tooth extraction?

Before a compensation claim for wrong tooth extraction is taken on, a dental negligence solicitor will try to confirm that:

• The level of treatment you received fell below the level that you might reasonably expect from a competent dental professional. This is called negligence or breach of duty; and
• As a direct result of the negligence, your dentist pulled the wrong tooth. This is called causation.

Essentially, the removal of the wrong tooth is a ‘never event’. This means it is something that simply shouldn’t happen. However, unless the dentist admits their mistake upfront, your solicitor will need to use an independent specialist with a similar level of competency to check whether they’d done anything differently during your treatment. The report from the specialist will help your solicitor to decide whether you’ve got grounds to continue your claim.

Once dental negligence has been established, your solicitor will look to prove how it caused you to suffer. For that reason, they’ll use medical reports and other types of evidence to try and prove how your injuries have affected you.

To see if you could be entitled to compensation after the wrong tooth was extracted, please call our team today.

Problems that can arise from a tooth extraction gone wrong

If you are unfortunate enough to have the wrong tooth extracted by a dentist, it can affect you in a number of ways. The types of problems that could arise from a tooth extraction gone wrong for which you could be compensated include:

• Unnecessary pain and suffering caused by the tooth extraction (including swelling and difficulty with eating or speaking).
• A risk of infection at the site of the tooth that was removed by mistake.
• Ongoing symptoms associated with the fact that the original problem has not been resolved.
• Additional suffering during remedial treatment.

It’s possible that having the wrong tooth removed might lead to short-term suffering that can be resolved by remedial treatment. However, even after the problem is rectified, your teeth might not feel exactly the same ever again.

Whatever problems you’ve suffered after the wrong tooth was extracted, we could help you to claim compensation. If you get in touch today we’ll review what options are available to you for free.

Why might a dentist pull the wrong tooth?

In this section, we are going to look at what sorts of errors can lead to a dentist extracting the wrong tooth during treatment. They include but are not limited to:

• Poor diagnosis. This might mean the dentist removed the wrong tooth because they linked your symptoms to the wrong tooth.
• Misdiagnosis. In this scenario, the dentist may have removed a tooth that didn’t need extracting at all.
• Procedural errors. The wrong tooth could be removed because the records made after your check-up were not clear.
• Distractions. Here, the wrong tooth could be removed because your dentist is trying to manage other things at the same time as carrying out your treatment.

This is just a sample of scenarios that could lead to the wrong tooth being extracted. Yours might be different but don’t worry as we could still help you to claim for dental negligence. If you’d like us to check if you could be entitled to compensation, please feel free to call today.

How much compensation could I claim for a wrong tooth extraction?

Any compensation you might get for a wrong tooth extraction isn’t a fine or penalty that the dentist must pay. Instead, it’s designed to get you back into the same position (or as near as possible) to where you were before the dental negligence occurred. Usually, the heads of loss you’ll claim for are called general damages (pain, suffering etc.) and special damages (costs, expenses, losses). There’s no set amount payable for wrong tooth extraction compensation but a settlement could be based on:

• The pain and suffering endured because of the tooth extraction and subsequent treatment, and loss of amenity.
• Any psychological injuries you’ve suffered caused by anxiety, embarrassment, depression and other similar conditions.
• Earnings you’ve lost if you couldn’t work during your recovery.
• Travel costs associated with follow-up treatment such as parking, fuel or public transport fares.
• Care costs if somebody needed to look after you while you were recovering.
• Any impact your injuries have had on your social or family life.

All solicitors on our team always try to ensure claimants are paid the highest level of compensation possible. To do this, they’ll review your claim with you in detail to make sure that nothing is missed out. This is an important process as you cannot ask for additional compensation once your wrong tooth extraction compensation claim has been settled.

To see how much compensation you might be paid for your dentist pulling the wrong tooth, call us on 0800 652 1345.

Providing proof for wrong tooth extraction compensation claims

Whether you claim for compensation against an NHS dentist or a private dental provider, your claim will usually be processed by NHS Resolution or a private insurance company. In either case, you’ll only be compensated if it can be proven that the dentist’s negligence caused you to suffer. To do this, evidence will need to be supplied. The types of evidence you could use to prove wrong tooth extraction include:

• Dental records. A good starting point is for your solicitor to request copies of your dental records. These can be used to show how your teeth were before and after dental treatment and as evidence that the wrong tooth was extracted.
• A statement from you. Your solicitor will ask you to describe how you have been affected by the removal of the wrong tooth. This will help to explain what impact the error made and what pain you had to endure.
• Witness statements. Additionally, your solicitor might ask friends and family to provide a statement to confirm how you’ve suffered because of the dentist’s negligence you’re claiming for.
• Photographic proof. It’s always a good idea to take pictures of any visible dental injuries. If your camera or phone is able to do so, include a timestamp and take various pictures throughout your recovery.
• Correspondence. If you’ve complained about your treatment, try to keep a copy of any response in a safe place. Similarly, if you have any emails from the dental surgery about your treatment, print them out. These could be reviewed by your solicitor and used as evidence.
• A diary of events. You may wish to record the effects of your injuries in a diary. This could help you to remember when you had to miss out on events or couldn’t work because of your injuries. Also, you could note any costs or expenses you incurred as well.

When you call our team, an advisor will look through any evidence you’ve secured for free. If anything else is needed, they’ll let you know or they could pass your case to a dental negligence lawyer.

Wrong tooth extraction compensation claims time limits

There is a time limit associated with claiming compensation for wrong tooth extraction. It is a 3-year limitation period that will begin from:

• The date you had the wrong tooth pulled out; or
• The date you found out that the wrong tooth had been taken out (date of knowledge).

The latter might be true in cases where you’re not made aware that the wrong tooth was removed until your next checkup or where you realise something isn’t right because your symptoms are persisting following treatment.

We would suggest that it’s best to begin your claim as quickly as you can. This should make it easier to secure evidence to support your case. Furthermore, you’ll find it easier to discuss how you’ve suffered as a result of your injuries.

No Win, No Fee claims

Having a solicitor that specialises in dental negligence claims on your side can make the claims process a lot easier. It could also mean you’ve got more chance of winning compensation. However, we know that many people worry about the costs of hiring a solicitor to represent them.

For that reason, we have a team of No Win, No Fee solicitors. If your case is taken on, you won’t need to pay their fees in advance and there won’t be any to pay if your claim is lost.

The contract our solicitor’s use is called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Once signed, they can begin working on your case. The CFA sets out the claims process and what your solicitor will do for you.

It also explains that a success fee is payable should you be paid compensation. The success fee is a fixed percentage of your settlement amount to cover your solicitor’s work and any associated costs. You can be sure that you’re not being overcharged because, by law, the maximum you’ll pay when using a CFA is 25% of your compensation.

Start a wrong tooth extraction compensation claim today

Our team of personal injury specialists are ready to help if you have decided to seek damages after having the wrong tooth removed. The easiest way to begin is to call us on 0800 652 1345 for a free claim review and advice on your options.

If you do decide to proceed, and your claim is accepted, your solicitor will do all they can to secure compensation on a No Win, No Fee basis.

Please use live chat to contact us if you have any further questions on wrong tooth extraction compensation claims.