Is it worth making a compensation claim for a wrong tooth extraction if my dentist has offered to make good his mistake?
Even though your dentist has offered to make good his or her mistake, you should still speak with a solicitor about making a compensation claim for a wrong tooth extraction. Assuming that the tooth that was incorrectly extracted is adjacent to the one that should have been taken out, the work that will be involved in fitting a bridge or implants to replace the missing teeth will be considerable and likely to involve more than one future medical procedure.
This is probably going to result in unnecessary pain, a period after surgery when eating or drinking may be difficult and, depending on the location of the teeth, your personal confidence could suffer. If you have to take unpaid time from work to undergo the dental work – that would have been unnecessary had your dentist removed the correct tooth – you would also be entitled to recover any lost income should you decide to claim compensation for a dentist taking out the wrong tooth.
However; you should also be aware that because your dentist has offered to make their mistake good it does not mean that he or she will automatically accept liability for their error if you proceed with a claim for the wrong tooth being taken out. It will still have to be proven that the treatment you received from your dentist was negligent and that you suffered an avoidable injury due to a breach in your dentist´s ‘duty of care’.
In order to do this, your solicitor would write to your dentist and obtain your dental records, which your solicitor would then arrange to be reviewed by an independent dental expert. Should the expert establish that ‘at the time and in the circumstances’ your dentist made an error of judgement or displayed a poor professional performance which resulted in you suffering an avoidable injury (even though much of the injury is still to come), your solicitor will advise you that you are eligible to claim for the wrong tooth being taken out.
Thereafter the choice is yours whether you wish to make a compensation claim for a wrong tooth extraction or accept your dentist´s offer. Once liability is established and an estimate of how much it would cost for you to have the revision treatment is received, your solicitor will be able to inform you of how much compensation for a dentist taking out the wrong tooth you would be likely to receive, and this might also influence your decision.
Most solicitors offer a free telephone consultation to provide potential plaintiff´s with preliminary information about the viability of a claim. It is recommended that you take advantage of such an offer to find out more about how a compensation claim for a wrong tooth extraction might proceed in relation to your own personal circumstances and also recommended that you speak with a solicitor sooner than later so that you can start to receive treatment to revise your dentist´s error.