Dental Negligence Claims – Consult the legal experts

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If you have suffered avoidable pain or injury due to negligent dental treatment and are looking to make a compensation claim against the practitioner, it is important that you seek specialist legal advice at your earliest convenience.

Our experienced dental negligence team at Paul Crowley & Co Solicitors will provide you with expert legal advice. Mike Sexton, Head of Dental Negligence, guides you through the legal process to achieving a successful claim.

What is dental negligence?

Dental care in England and Wales is usually excellent, but sometimes things can go wrong. If the treatment carried out by the dental practitioner falls below acceptable dental standards, then it can cause harm to the patient through dental negligence.

Duty of Care

A breach of duty of care occurs where it is reasonably foreseeable that the dentist, either through his/her actions or failure to act, has caused harm to a person. To make a claim, it must be proven that the treatment you received has fallen below a reasonable standard of a responsible body of dentists practising in that field. This may include:

• Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
• Delay in treatment and tests
• Failure to take account of your dental history
• Failure to advise about the risks of a particular treatment
• Dental implant failure

Limitation Period

The time limit for making a dental negligence claim and for legal proceedings to be brought against the dental practitioner must be issued within 3 years from when the incident happened or when you first became aware of the mistake.

There are exceptions: the time period doesn’t begin for children until their 18th birthday and does not apply to patients without the capacity to manage their own affairs.

Can I claim for dental negligence?

Yes, you can. In order to pursue a claim, you will need to show that a breach of care by the dental professional has directly caused you harm. At Paul Crowley & Co, our expert dental negligence lawyers can help you to bring about a successful compensation claim for:

• Pain and suffering
• Past expenses
• Remedial and maintenance costs of further treatment

Choosing the right Solicitor

The qualified dental negligence team at Paul Crowley & Co can advise you on whether you have a valid claim, the potential outcome, and the funding of your claim.

Required Evidence

Dental negligence cases must be based on expert dental evidence, so your claim must be supported by independent evidence from a dental professional, for you to have a successful claim. The patient must be able to prove that the dental practitioner acted negligently which caused an injury. Paul Crowley & Co will obtain your dental records and decide if you have a strong enough case for us to pursue.

There are four legal elements for a successful claim:

• Duty: The dentist owed a duty of care to the patient
• Breach: Evidence of a breach of duty of care
• Causation: The patient suffered harm as a direct result of the breach
• Damages: The amount of money awarded for the injury, expenses and losses suffered

Timescale

For a dental negligence claim to be properly investigated, it can take 24-36 months or longer in serious cases. Our team at Paul Crowley & Co will arrange for your dental records to be reviewed by an independent dental expert, who will prepare a report reviewing your treatment and advising if there are grounds for making a claim.

If supportive, a detailed Letter of Claim will be drafted and sent to the dentist who will have four months to provide a formal Letter of Response. If negligence is admitted, then settlement negotiations can take place. If negligence is denied, then we will consider if court proceedings should be issued.

No Win, No Fee

You won’t have to worry about paying any legal fees upfront. Paul Crowley & Co will act on your behalf on a Conditional Fee basis (also known as ‘No Win, No Fee’).

Paul Crowley & Co… on your side

If you have suffered a dental injury due to the negligence of a dental professional, call Mike or Megan on 0151 264 7363

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