Have you been injured while undergoing dental surgery? If yes, you can file a claim for compensation against your dentist under certain conditions. If you are a Perth resident, you can consult a top-rated workers compensation lawyers Perth firm, who offer a range of services, including dental compensation claims.

The injury can lead to further treatments, which can be expensive, causing you unnecessary financial loss. So, it is advised to consult lawyers and sue your dentist by filing a valid claim. You can file the claim by yourself too, but you may not have the required expertise to cover all the points that can make your case strong from your end.

Now let’s discuss the dental negligence claim and the legal process to file it in detail.

What Is Meant by Dental Negligence?

Dental negligence is when an avoidable injury is caused by a dental practitioner failing to take proper and reasonable care. A victim is entitled to file a compensation claim following a poor, inappropriate or negligent performance of a dentist. The claim can be made against any dental professional, including specialists and orthodontists in any sector of dental treatment.

When Can You File a Compensation Claim Against Your Dentist?

Surgery Leading to Unreasonable Damage

Among the most common cases of dental negligence compensation claims are oral procedures and surgeries leading to unexpected and damaging outcomes. However, not all poor outcomes can be used as grounds for filing a compensation claim.

If you feel your dentist failed in executing the procedure successfully, you may file a claim provided the procedure created new problems, made your original problem worse, or was delayed without valid reasons. The procedures include issues with dental implants, restorative dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, periodontal (gum) disease and nerve damage.

Dental Practitioner Breached His Duty of Care

When your dentist or any other assistant demonstrates poor diagnostic or communication skills under the influence of alcohol or drugs and does follow the established regulations, you can file a compensation lawsuit against the concerned person.

Dental Practitioner Is Licensed and Insured

If your procedure was carried out by a dental practitioner who was licensed and had professional indemnity insurance, you could claim for compensation. However, if your surgery was done by an overseas or unaccredited dentist and it led to severe issues, you cannot expect to receive any compensation for your claim as it would be nullified.

Prescription or Anaesthesia Was Wrongly Administered

During your dental procedure, if your dentist or any assistant gave you painkillers or other medications to assist the surgery or recovery, and it led to critical results, you can pursue a compensation claim. It can be the use of incorrect medication or dosage or your dentist failing to recognise your pre-existing health conditions and allergies.

How Can You Claim for a Dental Compensation?

There are more than one ways to file a compensation claim against your dentist. The best way, however, is to contact a dental negligence lawyer as they can correctly assess whether you are eligible for dental compensation and, if yes, can correctly guide you in preparing your case and fight for you so that you receive a fair and appropriate refund from your claim.

How a Lawyer Helps You with Your Claim?

Dental negligence lawyers can help you prepare your complaint by assessing the following points:

• Whether your dentist suggested a certain medication that was unsuitable for you at any point.
• Persons involved in the incident, like your dentist, may have suggested you undergo a risky surgery that led to the injury.
• The impact of the procedure on your daily life and whether it is treatable or not.
• Whether your dentist carried out the procedure without taking proper care or misinterpreted the side effects of certain medication.

Dental negligence cases can be pretty hard to prove because it’s tough to gather evidence that shows that the injury is the direct result of a dentist’s poor actions. So, it becomes imperative to consult trusted and experienced lawyers before submitting a compensation claim.

What Are Some Common Dental Errors You Can File a Claim for?

These are some of the common cases for which you can file a dental complaint:

• Surgical errors along with after-surgery care
• Damage of healthy teeth
• Failing in correctly investigating symptoms
• Wrong tooth removal
• Loss of expensive crown or implants
• Infections or illnesses like MRSA
• Errors by assistants or junior staff
• Dental negligence or failing in proper diagnosis and treatment
• Failing in correct monitoring, leading to issues like malnutrition, pressure sores or dehydration
• Misinterpreting X-rays

Apart from the above scenarios, a victim can also bring an oral cancer claim. Improper techniques can also result in failing expensive procedures to last for as long as they should, like veneers. So, a claim can also be made for that.

How Much Time Do You Have to File Your Claim?

Similar to other claims of personal injury, dental negligence claims also have a time limit within which you should file your complaint. Usually, dental negligence claims should be made within 3 years from the time when the injury occurred.

However, in some cases, the time limit can be extended, provided the full extent of the injury wasn’t immediately noticeable. The time limit also changes from state to state.

How Much Compensation Can You Expect?

The compensation depends on the impact of the dental negligence on a victim’s life rather than on the context of the negligence itself. Typically a dental claim compensation covers the following:

• Pain and suffering
• Present and future loss of earnings
• Care expenses that can include the costs of your, your loved ones and your children’s care
• Expenses for ongoing medical treatment
• Travel-related costs like hospital transport expense

Final Words

You can also file a claim on behalf of another person if he/she is a “protected person”. You can get in touch with the leading firm of workers comp lawyers Perth who also handle dental negligence claims to perfectly prepare your compensation claim.