Dental Abscess Medical Negligence Claims Explained
“Can I sue a dentist for bad work?”
Have you experienced negligent dental treatment which led to you suffering a dental abscess? Or were you already suffering from a dental abscess and negligence caused your condition to worsen. If this happened to you, you could be entitled to claim dentist mistake compensation for the pain and suffering this caused you.
Call Medical Negligence Assist today. We specialise in helping people affected by medical negligence and work with an excellent panel of medical negligence solicitors and lawyers who could handle your case on a No Win No Fee basis. Our panel of solicitors have up to three decades of experience handling dental negligence claims, and will always fight to win you as much compensation as you could be entitled to.
If you have suffered an abscess in your mouth, an abscess on your tooth, an abscess at the back of your mouth, or had an abscess worsened by negligent dental treatment, you could be entitled to claim compensation for your injuries.
Call Medical Negligence Assist today on 0800 652 3087, to enquire about making a dental medical negligence claim. Alternatively use our online claims form to contact us. One of our well informed advisers will talk to you in depth and if you have the right to claim, we will provide you with an experienced No Win No Fee solicitor to handle your case.
Select A Section
- Dental Abscesses Explained
- Examples Of Dental Abscess Claims
- Dental Abscesses Symptoms
- Diagnosis And Treatment Of Dental Abscesses
- What Impact Could An Abscess Being Undiagnosed Have?
- How Do You Prove Your Dentist Has Been Negligent?
- What Duty Of Care Does A Dentist, Dental Surgeon Or Dental Nurse Owe You?
- What Could My Dental Abscess Negligence Compensation Claim Include?
- Dental Abscess Negligence Claim Time Limits
- Dental Abscess Negligence Calculator
- No Win No Fee Dental Abscess Negligence Compensation Claims
- How A Dental Negligence Solicitor Could Help You
- Medical References
Dental Abscesses Explained
What is a dental abscess? A dental abscess is an infection which causes pus to collect. The abscess can occur in gums, inside a tooth, or in the bone that holds a tooth in place. Often they are incredibly painful and in extreme cases, abscesses can spread to other parts of the body. An abscess could be caused by negligent dental treatment, or a naturally occurring abscess can be worsened by dental negligence.
What is dental negligence? Dentists, and other dental practitioners such as oral hygienists or dental nurses, have a legal duty of care towards their patients. This means that they are obliged to provide patients with the highest possible standards of care and follow dental best practices. If they fail to do so, this is dental negligence. If a patient is injured, made ill or had their pre-existing condition worsened because of dental negligence, they could be entitled to claim compensation for the suffering and pain caused by the dental practice where they were treated.
We have created this guide for people who had an abscess worsened because of negligent dental abscess treatment, or which was caused by negligent dental care. We cover how to make a dental abscess compensation claim, what is considered a dental accident? Explain dental abscess symptoms and abscess treatments such as dental abscess antibiotic treatment or root canal surgery. We also answer questions you may have such as “Can I sue a dentist for bad work?” and will explain how you can make a no win no fee personal injury claim for NHS negligence or private healthcare negligence.
If you have been injured because a dentist provided substandard care while treating your abscess, or caused an abscess to develop, call Medical negligence Assist today. If you have legitimate grounds to claim, we will provide you with an experienced No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel of solicitors who would handle your dental negligence claim against the responsible party.
Examples of Dental Abscess Claims
If you have a dental abscess, the NHS advises that you seek medical treatment immediately, as abscesses don’t go away on their own.
Dentists are highly trained professionals who do a good job caring for their patients. Unfortunately, there are incidents where acts of dental negligence do occur, leading to patients becoming injured, ill, or having an existing medical condition worsen. Should this be the case, you may have the right to make a dental negligence claim for compensation against the party responsible
Here are some examples of dental negligence which could be grounds to file a dental negligence abscess claim:
- A delayed diagnosis of a dental abscess, leading to delayed treatment
- Failure to treat your symptoms with the correct course of dental abscess antibiotics, or other medications
- Complications following deep cleaning treatments
- If the dentist treats the abscess by draining the infection of pus, they should completely drain the affected area. If they fail to completely drain the affected area, this can lead to further infections.
- Failing to recognise the signs of tooth decay or a dental abscess and administer the correct treatment in a timely manner
There are many other ways that a dentist could cause a patient to suffer from a dental abscess, or worsen an existing dental abscess. If you have an existing abscess made worse because of dental negligence, or your dentist’s error resulted in an abscess forming, you could be entitled to claim compensation for the pain and suffering caused. Call us today, to see how much you could claim.
Dental Abscesses Symptoms
If you believe you are suffering from a dental abscess, it is important that you seek medical care as soon as possible, as abscesses get progressively worse over time and don’t go away on their own. Unfortunately, in the early stages of suffering from an abscess, symptoms are not always apparent. But if you should see your GP or dentist immediately if you experience any pain.
Here are some common dental abscess symptoms:
- A swollen gum
- Throbbing pain in the gum, which worsens over time
- Pus leaking from the gums or gum area
- Tender, discoloured or loose teeth
- A foul taste in your mouth
- Bad breath
- A swollen jaw or lower face
- Swollen neck glands
- Suffering extreme pain in the mouth when eating
- Sensitivity to food and drinks that are very hot or cold
- In extreme cases a person can find it difficult to open their mouth, breathe out of their mouth or swallow
If an abscess is not treated, it can worsen to the point that the infection spreads to other parts of your body, resulting in a fever. In extreme cases, an untreated abscess can lead to sepsis which could prove fatal if not effectively treated as a matter of urgency.
Diagnosis And Treatment Of Dental Abscesses
How are dental abscesses diagnosed? Dentists will usually be able to spot a dental abscess by examining a patient’s mouth. However, sometimes further investigation may be needed. A dentist may tap on a patient’s teeth to see if they are sensitive to pressure, investigate further by taking an x-ray, which will show them if the abscess has spread to other areas. In extreme cases if the abscess infection spreads to the neck, or other areas of the patient’s body, the dentist may recommend a CT scan to see where the infection has spread to.
How are dental abscesses treated? dental abscess treatment can include the following:
Types of dental abscess treatment:
- Root canal treatment is used to remove the abscess from the affected tooth, before draining it and sealing it
- In extreme cases where the root canal treatment is not possible, the tooth may be removed
- Before root canal treatment, incision and drainage may be used as a temporary treatment. This is a temporary solution before further treatment to get rid of the abscess
- If an infection spreads to other parts of the body, dental abscess antibiotic treatment may be used
- In extreme cases the person may need to have surgery to get rid of their abscess. If this is the case, a local anaesthetic may be necessary
If you have been harmed because you experienced a delayed diagnosis of an abscess, or misdiagnosis of an abscess by a dentist, you could be entitled to claim compensation. Similarly, if you have been injured because of negligent dental abscess negligence, you could be entitled to make a medical negligence compensation claim against the party responsible.
Also, if you experienced misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of a dental abscess that led to the worsening of your condition, you could be entitled to claim compensation. Call Medical Negligence Assist today, to see if you have the right to claim dental negligence compensation.
What Impact Could An Abscess Being Undiagnosed Have?
A dentist could fail to diagnose a dental abscess which could result in the abscess going untreated and worsening over time. As a result, the patient is likely to experience further pain and discomfort. In extreme cases the abscess could spread resulting in a fever, or worse sepsis. Sepsis can be treated but if it goes untreated, it can be fatal for the patient.
Call Medical Negligence Assist today if you had your abscess worsened, or contracted a further infection because of misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, you could claim compensation for dentist abscess negligence. We can provide you with an excellent medical negligence lawyer to handle your claim for dentist mistake compensation.
How Do You Prove Your Dentist Has Been Negligent?
Has dental negligence resulted in you suffering an abscess in your mouth? Or have you had your existing abscess worsened because of negligence on the part of a dentist? Then you could be entitled to make a claim for a dental accident.
To make a claim, you will need to provide evidence of the following:
- That you were a patient of the dentist in question
- That the dentist acted negligently, resulting in a dental accident that harmed you. What is considered a dental accident? It could be a negligent action or inaction
- That as a result, in you the patient becoming injured, ill or your pre-existing medical condition was made worse
Your medical negligence solicitor – provided from the panel working with Medical Negligence Assist – can help you gather the required evidence of the dental negligence to prove your case against the responsible party. The sort of evidence needed would include speaking to eye witnesses, looking at medical records and CCTV footage. If you are able to collect any evidence such as photographs of your injuries, this will help to support and strengthen your dental negligence claim.
What Duty Of Care Does A Dentist, Dental Surgeon Or Dental Nurse Owe You?
All medical organisations have a duty of care towards their employees and patients. As a patient of a dental practice, you are owed a duty of care by the dentist. This means that medical practitioners and other staff working at a dental practice, are obliged to provide you with the best possible standards of care and uphold the best practices of their profession. If they fail to do so and you are injured as a result (for example, your dental abscess worsens), this could be defined as clinical negligence and the party responsible could be held legally liable for your the pain and suffering caused.
What Could My Dental Abscess Negligence Compensation Claim Include?
If you make a successful dental abscess negligence compensation claim, your compensation package will include two parts, general damages and special damages. We will look at what these are in more detail, below.
General Damages:
General damages compensate injured dental patients for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity they experienced as a result of dental negligence. General damages will normally be the largest part of an awarded compensation package.
Special Damages
Special damages reimburse injured patients for any expenses that they had, as a result their injuries. For example, if you had to take a taxi hospital after your abscess treatment went wrong, you could claim the cost of this back as general damages.
Types of special damages you could claim for dental abscess negligence:
- Travel expenses: If you had to spend money getting to and from dental appointments or hospital appointments to receive treatment for your injuries, you could claim these funds back
- Medical expenses: You can claim back the cost of any treatment you had to treat the abscess that was caused, or worsened by negligent dental care
- Counselling costs: You could claim compensation to pay for counselling, if the trauma of your medical negligence ordeal has left you mentally scarred
- At home care costs: If a friend or family member had to care for you whilst you were ill you could be entitled to claim funds to compensate them for their time or efforts
- Loss of income: If you were unable to work for a period of time, due to any injuries or illness caused by negligent dental abscess treatment, you could be entitled to claim compensation to cover any loss of income. These funds could include lost salary payments and work benefits such as contributions to your pension
Dental Abscess Negligence Claim Time Limits
If you have experienced abscess treatment which went wrong, resulting in the worsening of your existing condition, or dental negligence caused you develop an abscess, you could be entitled to claim compensation. In the United Kingdom, there is a personal injury claims time limit that must be respected.
Dental negligence claims time limits are typically three years from the date of your negligence induced accident, or the date of knowledge when you realised that you had been harmed. Therefore, we recommend that you contact medical negligence assist as soon as possible to begin your personal injury claim, to avoid falling outside of the personal injury claims time limit. Call Medical negligence Assist today to see if you are still able to claim.
In some circumstances, the personal injury claims limit of three years can be extended. For example, if you were injured when you were a child, you will usually have until your 21st birthday to claim. If your abscess in mouth injury was more than three years ago, call us today to see if you are still entitled to claim compensation.
Dental Abscess Negligence Calculator
If you have been injured or made ill because of dental abscess negligence, you can use our personal injury claims compensation table to estimate how much your claim could be worth. This calculator only estimates general damages, not special damages.
Injury | Severity | Notes | Settlements |
---|---|---|---|
Facial scarring | Very severe | Higher awards may be made to thsoe under 30. There will be extreme levels of injury and as such there may also be severe levels of psychological reaction to this injury. | £26,120 - £85,340 |
Facial scarring | Less severe | The level of injury could lead to a significan reaction psychologically. There may be significant disfigurement of the affected area. | £15,750 - £42,460 |
Facial scarring | Significant | The most serious or worst effects can be amended by plastic surgeries. | £7,990 - £26,380 |
Facial scarring | Less significant | Whilst the claimants appearance may be marred, there it not a marked affect overall. | £3,460 - £12,050 |
No Win No Fee Dental Abscess Negligence Compensation Claims
If you have legitimate grounds to make a dental abscess negligence compensation claim, we can provide you with an excellent No Win No Fee lawyer to handle your claim. No Win No Fee agreements mean that you only have to pay your solicitor’s ‘success fee’ if you win your clai . This means that there is less financial risk involved your end.
To learn more about the benefits of making a No Win No Fee claim, call Medical Negligence Assist today to speak to one of our informed advisers.
How A Dental Negligence Solicitor Could Help You
Have you been injured or made ill because of negligence on the part of a dentist? If you experienced dental negligence which caused an abscess in mouth, or your abscess was worsened because of misdiagnosis or negligent treatment, you could be entitled to claim compensation for your injuries. Whether you were harmed because of an abscess in your tooth, abscess at the back of your mouth, or any other type of dental abscess we can help. Trust Medical Negligence Assist to provide you with the assistance you need to make a successful claim for dental abscess negligence.
To begin your medical negligence claim for NHS negligence, or private dentistry negligence, call us today, or use our online claims form to contact us. We will be able to speak to you in detail and if you have legitimate grounds to claim compensation we will explain how our team could help you. Call today, we’re looking forward to hearing from you.
Medical References
A National Institute for Health and Care Excellent (NICE) guide to dental abscesses
A British Medical Journal guide to dental abscesses
Related Medical Negligence Assist Guides
Surgery Medical Negligence Claims
NHS Compensation Claims – Claim Against the NHS
Article by HC
Editor Honey