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Dental Negligence

Main Complaints
Periodontal Deterioration
Soft Tissue Lesions
Surgical – Extracting the Wrong Tooth

Main Complaints

There are five main areas of complaint by the patient related to dental treatment:

  • Appearance – aesthetics related especially to colour and form
  • Comfort – elimination of pain and awareness of teeth
  • Function – ability to chew, bit and eat
  • Failure to recognise or treat adequately dental disease and giving inadequate advice
  • Damage caused by the treatment

Periodontal Deterioration

The main areas leading to claims are failure to:-

  • recognise disease
  • provide adequate advice
  • treat and prevent a progressive deterioration

Periodontal disease arises from the accumulation of plaque and debris at the junction between the soft tissues of the gum and the neck of the tooth. It is a progressive condition unless the cause is eliminated, by a thorough cleaning of the teeth by the hygienist or dental surgeon and followed by instructions to the patient on how to avoid further deposits occurring. This depends on patient cooperation and monitoring by the dental practice. If the disease is advanced when first recognised by the operator then root planning and possible gingival surgery will be necessary. It is the failure to undertake an adequate periodontal assessment and to follow a correct regime of treatment which leads to claims for negligence, since the disease will progress continually over a long period and result in a considerable loss of support of the teeth and ultimately in their complete loss. In a patient who attends regularly, it is reasonable to expect an average dental practitioner to recognise and treatment this disease before it progresses to a significant extent

Soft Tissue Lesions

Any ulcers, swellings or other lesions of the soft tissues of the mouth should be carefully examined and if they have been present for more than a couple of weeks or appear in any way unusual should be referred for a consultant assessment. Many of these lesions are quite innocent but others are much more serious and need early treatment. Failure to refer these could be negligent. Any condition which persists and for which a diagnosis cannot be made should be referred for a consultant opinion.

Surgical – Extracting the Wrong Tooth

This is more frequent where the operator is not the same person as the one who charted the treatment or where the charting of the extraction has occurred at a previous visit. The usual reasons are recording the wrong side or using the numerical system of recording the teeth incorrectly, so as to give the wrong number for the tooth.

Summary

This is only a very short summary of what is a complicated medico-legal topic. All claims for medical negligence claims require a detailed assessment of the factual, medical and legal issues surrounding the circumstances of the treatment. Raleys can help you find a way through this maze.