Medical Malpractice – Dental

As with any medical malpractice case, dental malpractice or dental negligence cases are complex and difficult to prove. The plaintiff has to show that the dental provider committed a negligent act that lead to the injury – a breach of his/her duty as a doctor. To prove negligence, it will be essential to maintain all dental records, interview all other staff at the dentist’s office on the day of the procedure as well as to hire another dentist that will confirm that negligence was present. The most difficult part is to make the jury understand technical medical procedures. There are many dental procedures that could be possible instances for a personal injury case. The most common are: failing to diagnose a disease, permanent or temporary nerve damage, loss of taste sensation, wrongful death resulting from dental surgery, failure to diagnose oral cancer and failure to treat a condition.

As with all personal injury cases, there is a statue of limitation on filing the medical malpractice case in the courts and this length varies greatly from state to state. In addition, medical malpractice cases require the plaintiff to make a formal notification, if the healthcare professional being taken to court works at a public hospital or clinic. Again, there is a time limit to file this notification and in some states, this can be as short as 180 days. To make sure that your case will not be barred from going to trial, make sure that you thoroughly check your state’s requirements and time limits for medical malpractice suits.