A dentist negligence claim in Ireland is governed by the same medical negligence compensation claims laws as claims made against a doctor, surgeon or hospital. The Medical Practitioners Act (2007) includes dentists as medical professionals, and they similarly have a duty of care to you as a patient to ensure that your health is not put at risk when undergoing treatment.
If you have suffered an injury when undergoing dental work, have suffered health problems as a result of the misdiagnosis of a dental problem, or have had treatment which was inadequate, ineffective, or involved carelessness on the part of the dentist, you may be able to make a dentist negligence claim for compensation.
Proving Negligence in a Dentist Negligence Claim
As with any claim for a mistake, injury or deterioration in health which has been caused by a medical professional, a dentist negligence claim for compensation will need to demonstrate that ‘on the balance of probabilities’ a the dentist has acted in a negligent manner. It must be proven that the standard of care provided fell below an acceptable standard and that an avoidable injury or harm resulted which came as a direct result of the dental treatment or procedure that was performed.
Just because a treatment fails, or dental work was not successful, it does not necessarily mean that the dentist has been negligent. As with all medical negligence claims, if a better standard of care was provided to patient, they may have been able to avoid an injury. However the incident which led to the injury being sustained may not have been able to be avoided, and in such cases, a dentist negligence claim in Ireland is unlikely to succeed.
A dentist negligence claim in Ireland will require dental experts to be consulted for their opinion on whether there has been dentist negligence, as it must be determined that a competent dentist would have been able to avoid causing harm to a patient and that any dental problems could have been avoided had the patient received proper treatment.
Reasons for Making a Dentist Negligence Claim
- A patient received a poor standard of dental work
- A patient suffered from a lack of care during a dental procedure
- There was a failure to perform dental procedures correctly
- Injuries were sustained while undergoing dental treatment
- A misdiagnosis of a dental condition caused a personal injury
- A failure to diagnose oral cancers
- A failure to advice of the risks of a procedure
- The extraction of healthy teeth
- The performance of unnecessary dental procedures
- Ill advised dental treatments
- Diseases or infections contracted due to poor standard of hygiene
- A fractured mandible
- Severed nerves
- Sinus perforation
- Anaesthesia errors
Free Legal Advice on Dentist Negligence Claims in Ireland
If you believe that the work completed by a dentist was substandard, or if you have suffered health problems or have been left in pain after detail work, you may be eligible to make a dental negligence claim for compensation and should have your claim assessed by a dentist negligence claims solicitor. It is also important to find out about the time scale for making a dentist negligence claim, as dentist negligence claims in Ireland need to be filed within a fixed legal time frame. Our dentist negligence claims solicitors will advise you of how long you have left to make any dentist negligence claims for compensation in Ireland when you call our claims helpline.
A call to our dentist negligence claims helpline is free of charge, and will give you the opportunity to speak with a solicitor who will assist you with making a dentist negligence claim. You will be provided with impartial and accurate advice, and will be told about the steps you need to take next in order to file a dentist negligence claim for compensation in Ireland.
Call our compensation claims helpline today on Freephone or if it is not convenient to call straightaway, please request a call back at a more convenient time by completing your contact details in the form below.