Medical Negligence – Dental Malpractice

Any kind of negligence or poor quality dental care can be defined as dental malpractice. Having a dental treatment can be an unnerving experience and damage or side effects can occur; however in some cases this is often unavoidable.

Dentists have as duty of care towards patients to ensure that they receive proper treatment and the majority of dentists are successful in helping their patients to achieve good oral health. Dentistry is a difficult and rewarding profession and the medical practitioners involved in this skilled profession work long hours and use the best equipment to get surgery completed with minimal discomfort.

The average person probably doesn’t understand much about dental treatment and because of this we put our full trust and confidence into the dentist working on our teeth. In order to protect us when it comes to the dental work that we have carried out the General Dental Council (GDC) was set up. The GDC regulates the dental professionals within the UK and works to protect patients and promote confidence in the dental profession. This is because all dental patients are entitled to high standards of professional and personal behaviour from those providing their care.

As part of their duty to protect the public the GDC have always had the power to take action by either removing or restricting a dental professional’s registration on the Dental Professionals’ Register. This gives you peace of mind that if the worse does happen that action can be taken against the dental professional who caused that damage.

If the worst happens when you are undergoing your dental treatment and you end up suffering as a result you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation. If the standard of care shown by a dental practitioner slips below the acceptable level then you may have a case for compensation. Below are just a few example of what constitutes being medical negligence when it comes to dentistry:

• Failure to fully detect an oral disease or malformation
• Improper utilisation of dental or surgical utensils
• Installation of defective dental products
• Personal injury to oral cavity or surrounding bone and tissue
• Wrongful death due to dental procedures or anaesthetic

Dental malpractice can occur under a number of different circumstances such as a missed diagnosis; when a dentist fails to see an injury or dental problem and as a result of this the problem worsens. Another example is an incorrect diagnosis, which is when a dental practitioner fails to carry out work or they undertake work that results in you being in more pain.

Two other factors that could play a part in medical negligence are careless work and drug usage error. If a dentist carries out careless work it can cause personal injury and in a case of drug usage error a dentist may administer them incorrectly or fail to see if an allergic reaction occurred.

If you feel like you have been let down by the dental profession or you are suffering pain as a result of the treatment that you have received then you could be entitled to make a claim for compensation.

For information regarding where you stand legally with making a claim for compensation get in touch with a legal firm today.