Man Awarded Nearly $700,000 in Dental Malpractice Claim

A man was awarded approximately $700,000 after a dental malpractice lawsuit in which he claimed he suffered mental health problems because of a botched dental procedure. According to DentistryIQ.com, the patient went to see a dentist in 2002 because he was having issues with his dentures. The dentist told the man he believed that there was a small piece of tooth left over from an extraction, but the problems were actually because of an impacted tooth. The dentist started his work, but stopped the procedure after he found his diagnosis was incorrect. The patient was left with permanent nerve damage in his face. Eventually, the man’s mental health started to deteriorate and had to quit his job as a sales representative. The judge in this case ruled that the dental procedure had forever changed the man’s life and determined that his psychiatric injuries were far worse than the physical damage he suffered.
According to The American Dental Association, work involving crowns and bridges, root canals and simple extractions are among the most common types of dental malpractice claims. Injuries suffered due to negligent dental work can negatively affect the victim’s quality of life, leaving him or her to cope with the aftermath, along with the expenses for medical treatment and care.
Dentists are held to the same standards as any other medical professional. They are expected to be experts in their field and provide quality care to their patients. Dental malpractice occurs when a dental professional is negligent or careless while treating a patient and causes an injury. Reckless dentistry can be defined as the failure to use a degree of care that a patient expects from a dental professional. Using poor methods, defective equipment, or sheer incompetence can lead to serious injuries. Potential injuries include loss of taste, nerve damage, disfigurement, infection and other injuries to the lips, teeth, gums, face, jaw and chin, etc. Failure to diagnose or treat an ailment can also qualify as dental malpractice.
Victims of dental malpractice may sustain minor injuries from which they can recover or suffer severe injuries that affect the patient for a lifetime. Whatever the type of injury, you may be able to seek compensation including, but not limited to, medical bills, lost wages and benefits, cost of additional treatments, past and future pain and suffering, emotional distress, etc.
If you or a loved one has been a victim of medical negligence in New York, the experienced New York medical malpractice attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options. Please call our offices 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). We can also help with personal injury cases in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: DentistryIQ.com