Few dental procedures are as daunting as a tooth extraction. It involves placing a huge amount of trust in your dentist to perform it correctly. If your dentist then pulls out the wrong tooth, or perhaps more teeth than just the problem tooth, it can feel like a huge betrayal of that trust.
At Truth Legal, we can help you to claim compensation for the injuries and harm that your dentist’s negligence has caused you. We have specialist dental negligence solicitors, with extensive experience in this complicated area of law. This makes us ideally placed to help you to recover the compensation you deserve.
Wrong tooth extraction
A dentist extracting the wrong tooth can cause serious problems; there is the pain and anguish caused by the operation itself, the need for corrective procedures, the permanent loss of a potentially healthy tooth, and the even possibility of long-term damage.
A refund isn’t enough
At Truth Legal, we can help you to claim compensation for the injuries and harm that your dentist’s negligence has caused you. We have specialist dental negligence solicitors, with extensive experience in this complicated area of law. This makes us ideally placed to help you to recover the compensation you deserve.
What can happen if my dentist has pulled the wrong tooth?
Many complications can occur following an incorrect tooth extraction. If the original tooth which required extraction is still in your mouth then, at the least, the operation will need to be repeated to complete what should have been accomplished in the first place. This often means ‘doubling-up’ the pain and recovery times involved.
Long-term problems can also arise in some cases, including:
- Persistent pain and swelling
- Developing abscesses and infections
- Nerve damage
- Prolonged discomfort, particularly when talking or eating
- Damage to sinuses (after the removal of an upper molar)
- Change of position in your remaining teeth.
Making a wrong tooth extraction claim
Making a claim for the incorrect extraction of a tooth will involve proving that your dentist’s care fell below the standards required of them, and that this caused you to suffer harm – harm for which you should be compensated.
On the face of it, pulling out the wrong tooth is a clear indication that you have received sub-standard care. It sounds like the equivalent of a surgeon cutting off the wrong arm! But you and your solicitors must still establish your claim, and you should be prepared for some objections from the dentist.
Common objections include:
- “The ‘wrong’ tooth needed extracting anyway” – here you may need to rely on your own recollections and/or your dental records to confirm whether there were any prior problems in the extracted tooth. Even so, however, your dentist will have provided sub-standard care if the extraction of that particular tooth was done without your consent.
- “The patient indicated that the ‘wrong’ tooth was the one which needed extracting” – Even if this is true, it does not remove the responsibility on the dentist to make sure that the operation they are performing is justified from a healthcare perspective. If they have removed a perfectly healthy tooth simply because you pointed to it, they have fallen short of the care required by their professional duties.
Wrong tooth extraction FAQs
Why should I make a claim with Truth Legal?
There is no substitute for having skilled and experienced solicitors working on your claim.
Dental negligence claims involve a high-level of specialist knowledge, and to give your claim its best chances of success, you need to instruct legal representatives with this expertise.
Contact us today to discuss your case with a solicitor specialising in dental negligence claims. There will be no pressure on you to proceed further if you do not wish to, and our initial consultations are completely free.
