How to calculate dental compensation amounts in Brisbane, Gold Coast and QLD
Dental negligence or malpractice can cause avoidable injuries that can leave you in pain and disabled through no fault of your own. It is caused by any dentist who fails to take the proper care while undertaking dental procedures.
It can occur where a dentist has performed poor, negligent treatment or if you have been treated in an inappropriate manner resulting in avoidable harm. If this has happened to you, then you may be eligible to make a dental negligence compensation claim.
The Personal Injury Lawyers are the best people to advise you on whether your dental negligence compensation claim falls into the category of dental malpractice. Find out how much you could claim with our free dental negligence compensation calculator.
Type of Dental Claims
As with clinical negligence, a dental claim can be made if you have sustained any form of personal injury. This may include psychological suffering or financial loss, as well as physical harm as a result of a dentist’s negligent work.
There are many different types of dental negligence. Any poor dental treatment that results in pain, injury or trauma could potentially be considered negligence, even if your general damages are the result of a medical practitioner carrying out dental work.
If you feel you’ve been the victim of any of the negligent practices below then you may be eligible to receive dental compensation amounts for the special damages that you have suffered.
When claiming compensation, there are numerous different kinds of dental negligence that can inform a dental claim, including but not limited to:
- The extraction of the wrong tooth or teeth
- Misdiagnosis, missed diagnosis, delayed or failed diagnosis
- Dentist carelessness, including failure to remove unplanned foreign objects during treatment
- Failure to provide a treatment plan, preventative or oral hygiene advice
- Inadequate radiology or imaging
- Hospital negligence that allowed you to become the victim of dental negligence.
Injuries that harm someone
As with any medical treatment, dental malpractice or dental negligence may involve harm to the patient, whether
- through poorly performed procedures
- incompetence
- or failure to diagnose.
This may involve severing a nerve, pulling the wrong tooth or failing to diagnose decay resulting in further problems.
Life-changing, serious injury
Any serious harm to a patient can be a feature of dental malpractice, with some patients experiencing life-changing injuries as a consequence. A dentist may:
- fail to correctly diagnose a case of oral cancer
- cause a serious infection due to unsafe practices
- or improperly use dental tools resulting in permanent injury.
All of these examples could all qualify as dental malpractice.
Informed consent
A dentist is responsible for informing you of any of the potential risks involved with your proposed treatments. They must also highlight any potential side effects and risks to your health. If you are treated and not made fully aware of these risks beforehand, and something has gone wrong, you could have grounds for a dental compensation claim.
How to prove dental negligence
There are several things that you must be able to prove when making a dental negligence claim:
- Breach – This means that you must show how the dentist breached his or her duty by falling below the required standard of care. This standard is measured against other reasonable dentists of average skill. In some cases, other dentists may be brought in to offer expert testimony about an acceptable level of care.
- Causation – This means demonstrating that the dentist’s breach of duty caused you harm. If your harm was not caused directly by the dentist’s breach of duty, then you cannot sue him or her for dental negligence.
- Damages – This means showing that you suffered some form of harm as a result of your dentist’s breach of care. If you didn’t come to any harm, you cannot sue your dentist – even if they were blatantly careless.
If you feel you’ve been a victim of dental negligence and have suffered from dental negligence, you will need our experienced dental negligence solicitors to assist you. FAs with all forms of medical negligence, the pain and suffering could cause you to take time away from your work, potentially leading to loss of earnings.
Find out how much you could claim with our free dental negligence compensation calculator.
What is "gross negligence" in a case of dental negligence?
Gross negligence in dental negligence claims is a term used when a dentist has done the wrong thing in their treatment of you such as cut a nerve during an operation that has caused you permanent disability and pain and suffering or operated when heavily drunk or drugged.
It is where the dentist’s actions have shown a complete lack of reasonable care in providing the treatment or advice. You can prove dental negligence by providing evidence.
This evidence can include anything from medical records and photographs to testimony from medical professionals.
Do I need to seek a dental negligence lawyer to make a claim?
Seeking out legal advice can make the claims process much easier. If you’re thinking of representing yourself, consider the benefits of working with an experienced dental negligence lawyer:
- Legal expertise – Having a lawyer on hand to interpret complex legislation can be hugely beneficial when you’re trying to build a case.
- Better resources – Dental negligence claims often rely on expert medical testimony.
- Working with a lawyer – This can provide you with better access to professionals in the medical field.
- Compensation value – Calculating the amount of compensation that you’re entitled to is a complicated process. A personal injury lawyer can help you with this step, ensuring your claim is valued correctly.
Find out how much you could claim with our free dental negligence compensation calculator.
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