Wrong Dental Diagnosis
Claim Compensation
You are encouraged to go to the dentist regularly for a full check-up to make sure that any problems can be picked up as early as possible.
When dental problems are picked up early, the treatment is easier and simpler and also it will cost you less with fewer visits.
Even more important is that very early problems can be treated minimally and less invasively. For example very early decay can be reversed with the correct advice and correct care preventative treatment.
You could be able to claim for an amount running into several thousand pounds.
Request a Callback
When do you have a claim?
In dental clinical negligence cases that we see, we find certain common themes that run when there is a wrong or a delayed dental diagnosis. We highlight some of these below.
- You go to see another dentist instead of your usual dentist with a problem. The problem gets flagged up and it appears that the treatment was carried out recently by your regular dentist but it seems to be of a poor standard.
- Maybe also that you have had a full dental check up recently with your own dentist and everything seemed to be “fine and no problems”. Then you go to see a different dentist with an emergency problem or perhaps you have moved location but you realise that this problem should have been picked up earlier by your previous dentist.
- You have a problem such as sensitivity with a new filling or a new crown and when you go back and see your regular dentist, appointments always seem to be “rushed.” You are giving simple advice such as to rub Sensodyne and hopefully the problem will go away. The problem however doesn't go away so you return again and again. Each time you go back, the appointments are rushed and you are reassured it will settle down. We have seen cases where this can go on for weeks and months. The real underlying problem is not picked up and eventually causes further problems including losing a tooth.
- Another sign of delays in dental diagnosis seems to be getting many prescriptions for antibiotics to clear up infections. These infections could be to do with your gums or it could be due to a tooth infection. Antibiotics seem to settle the infection but then it flares up again and then you go back to your dentist again with further antibiotics and so this continues. The actual problem is not really picked up and you don't receive the correct level of care.
- When the dental diagnosis isn't right, correct or delayed then it often costs a lot more to put right and we add this to your claim as part of your compensation for dental negligence. The additional treatment you need may also is more complex and lengthy which again puts you in the position where you can claim further compensation.
Sometimes we also advise that you are entitled to claim for anxiety, inconvenience and unnecessary travel costs caused as a result of your dental treatment that has gone wrong with a wrong diagnosis.
Financial losses as a result of mistreatment. Sometimes, it costs you much more to have the initial treatment put right by the same dentist or by going to a different dentist. This causes you inconvenience, more discomfort and being further out of pocket.
Request a Free Consultation
For a FREE initial consultation about your Dental Negligence Claim, please call us on 078891414223
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are taking painkillers up to the maximum after a tooth extraction and the pain is not going away then that could be something to be concerned about. If as well as the severe pain, there is swelling, then that could indicate an infection.
Once a tooth has been taken out, the space left behind fills up as a blood clot within the tooth socket but sometimes a blood clot does not form properly and you have an open wound where food can get in. This causes severe pain as it interferes with the normal healing process.
Severe nerve damage after tooth extraction will result in permanent numbness of the area which the affected nerve normally supplies. In the lower teeth therefore it would be the lower lip, around the lower chin, the tongue and the side of the face. In addition the gum around the area would also be numb. You can test this yourself by getting a sharp needle and going around the area which you think has been affected by the tooth extraction. If you cannot feel any pain but only pressure, then that indicates severe nerve damage. Nerve damage varies so a mild case would be where instead of full numbness, you get pins and needles.
In addition, there are other signs such as getting an electric shock when that area is accidentally touched. Nerve damage to the lip also means that you will frequently bite your lip accidentally when you are eating. In addition, you won’t be able to control your lip from biting it accidently. Food and drink may dribble out through the side of your mouth. Another sign of nerve damage is when your speech, especially certain words, is also affected and other people notice it. Some patients report a cold feeling as if the whole area has had ice put on it and sometimes they even feel sensations that the area has become swollen.
Pain and swelling after a tooth extraction would typically last 24 to 48 hours. After that it does subside and within a week everything is almost back to normal. If the pain and swelling are not decreasing after 24 to 48 hours or are actually getting worse, then that is a time when you should contact an emergency dentist to see why everything is not healing up as well as it should.
There is some individual variation. So you could be a person who generally heals up very fast and a tooth socket can heal within the first 24 hours but with other patients who seem to not have a good healing response, their pain and swelling may last twice as long.
Swelling does not normally always have to cause pain after a tooth extraction although the two tend to go hand in hand. The swelling after a tooth extraction is usually a result of the trauma of the actual procedure but also can indicate infection. If the swelling is not causing pain, but the swelling is still not going down after a few days, it could indicate an infection where you might need antibiotics.
Signs of infection after a tooth extraction are normally pain and swelling. A specific type of infection after a tooth extraction is called a dry socket. This causes severe pain almost immediately when the patient gets home and is often worse than the original toothache itself. It is categorized by a severe dull continuous throbbing which does not respond well to ordinary painkillers such as aspirin, paracetamol or ibuprofen.
Ordinary painkillers don’t seem to have any effect on stopping dry socket pain. Other signs of infection after a tooth extraction include a temperature and generally feeling unwell. Depending on where the tooth was taken out you can also end up with the condition called trismus where you are not able to open your mouth fully… Another sign of infection could be continuous bleeding even the next day after the tooth extraction. In cases of a dry socket a characteristic sign is bad breath and food getting trapped where the socket. Has failed to heal up.
After a tooth extraction, a throbbing pain and swelling may be due to a condition called a “dry socket.” A dry socket will cause throbbing, pain and swelling fairly soon after a tooth extraction. Dry socket is a localized infection of the socket which remains after the tooth has been taken out.
Unfortunately painkillers do not seem to work well and the ideal treatment is for the dentist to place an antibacterial dressing inside the socket to encourage it to heal up. A dry socket is normally caused when the blood clot does not form properly after the tooth extraction or dislodges and is most common in people who are smokers and when the extraction took a long time due to surgical difficulties.