INFORMATION ABOUT DENTAL MALPRACTICE

A dentist is a medical professional who can be sued for malpractice if the treatment provided falls below the standard of care.

We hope that the questions and answers presented here will assist you in familiarizing yourself with the issues surrounding Dental Malpractice. While the material below attempts to answer common questions in this area, nothing provided here is a substitute for the advice of competent counsel. We strongly urge you to consult with an attorney licensed to practice in your state about any particular legal problem you may have.

MAY A DENTIST BE SUED?

Yes. A dentist is a health care professional providing care for a patient, as does a physician. There is a duty imposed upon the dentist to practice dentistry at the standard of care in his/her specialty. A breach of this duty that results in injury to the patient can result in a lawsuit against the dentist. This is generally referred to as "dental malpractice".

I COMPLAINED ABOUT PAIN IN MY TOOTH FOR OVER A YEAR TO MY PAST DENTIST. HE TOLD ME NOTHING WAS WRONG BUT I ULTIMATELY HAD TO HAVE ORAL SURGERY AND LOST TWO TEETH AND TIME FROM WORK. MAY I SUE THE FIRST DENTIST WHO IGNORED ME?

If the dentist ignored your complaints, and this resulted in injuries to you, the dentist may be liable for malpractice. A dentist has to keep a record every time you visit his office to be treated, even if it is just to have your teeth cleaned. This is the same as a medical record. A dental expert will have to review your records to determine if your dentist treated you below the standard of dental care. If this happened and it caused you to lose your teeth, or suffer other damages, your dentist could be sued for malpractice.

DO I NEED AN ATTORNEY?

Yes. In order to prove negligence, you will need to retain experts to testify on your behalf about what occurred, from a technical sense. The dentist will then retain his or her own experts to contest everything you say. The attorney will be able to help you find experts and cross-examine the dentist's experts as well. It would be most difficult, if not impossible, for a non-lawyer to handle a dental malpractice case.

HOW DOES MY ATTORNEY GET PAID?

Most attorneys review potential malpractice cases on a contingent or percentage fee basis. This means that the attorney's fee will be a percentage of the amount recovered on your behalf. If there is no recovery, then you will not owe any fee to the attorney. Most attorneys will even advance the expenses needed to bring the case to trial, and then get reimbursed for those expenses from the recovery. All of these details regarding the fee and cost arrangements should be worked out with your attorney in advance, before any work is done on the case. You should review all of these details completely with the attorney and have the fee arrangements put into writing.

DESSEN, MOSES & ROSSITTO is happy to assist you in any legal matter that involves either Pennsylvania or New Jersey, the two states in which our attorneys routinely practice. If you have other questions or comments about Dental Malpractice, or any other area in which we practice, please send us an E-mail message with your questions or comments and we will be happy to try to assist you.

LINKS TO OTHER INTERESTING INFO

American Dental Association
American Dental Hygienists Association

Information found at this Web site is for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice or the rendering of a legal opinion. DO NOT assume that anything contained in these Web pages answers your specific legal problem. Each legal situation is unique. You should seek independent legal advice and counsel regarding any specific legal problem you may have.