Dental Problem do i have a case

[chefant]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? nj
i went to my dentist ten days ago with a tooth ache he said i had a wisdom tooth and he could take it out > He removed it and gave me very little after care advice and sent me away with pain pills. Three days later i was in terrible pain in my sinus area. I went back to see him and he told me there was nothing wrong that i had come in with a sinus infection and it got worse. He gave me pain pills and antibiotic and sent me on my way. The pain was so bad i missed three days of work. On the fourth day while rinsing my mouth out i realized that i had what is called a communication between my mouth and sinus cause by a hole in my sinus most likely caused by the removely of the tooth. Now i have to go to an oral surgeon and my dental insurance may not cover it do i have a case

[ecmst12]

If your dental insurance won't cover it, it's probably because it's a MEDICAL problem, not dental, so your medical insurance should cover it. Call your medical insurance company BEFORE you see the oral surgeon to make sure that the one you are seeing is in network, and if there are any other guidelines you will need to follow in order to get the service covered.

If you had an undiagnosed/undetected sinus infection when you went in to have the tooth pulled, the dentist is not responsible for that, how was he to have known? I am not sure if the standard of care would require antibiotics to be prescribed preventively for a tooth extraction; I am thinking not. The infection could also have been caused by poor after care on your part. You say you were not given any instructions but did you ASK?

[barry1817]

Originally Posted by chefant

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? nj
i went to my dentist ten days ago with a tooth ache he said i had a wisdom tooth and he could take it out > He removed it and gave me very little after care advice and sent me away with pain pills. Three days later i was in terrible pain in my sinus area. I went back to see him and he told me there was nothing wrong that i had come in with a sinus infection and it got worse. He gave me pain pills and antibiotic and sent me on my way. The pain was so bad i missed three days of work. On the fourth day while rinsing my mouth out i realized that i had what is called a communication between my mouth and sinus cause by a hole in my sinus most likely caused by the removely of the tooth. Now i have to go to an oral surgeon and my dental insurance may not cover it do i have a case

It appears that your dentist may have created a hole into the sinus when extracting the tooth. While this is a complication that can arise from a surgery, your comments about this incident reveals several problems.

Dismissing a patient without post operative instructions is not the standard of care.

Perforating the sinus with the extraction, while it can happen, would necessitate that the problem be taken care of. As a general dentist, he is expected to treat at the level of the oral surgeon that would have extracted the tooth if you were to have been treated by the oral surgeon. It would be interesting to have an oral surgeon give an opinion about how the sinus was perforated.

You went back to him and he told you that nothing was wrong. If the sinus was perforated that is below the standard of care to do at least consider this a problem. There are relatively quick and cost free evaluations that could have diagnosed this problem in the chair when you went back to see him. If an oral surgeon would have done that test, and he didn't, that is below the standard of care and negligent.

I would also be very interested in the infection control standards that are in place by the dental board in your state and if he was in complete compliance with the minimum standards of care for infection control. If he was not in compliance, that would be negligence, and you wouldn't have to make the connection as to how the infection occurred, but rather he would have to defend his practice and explain how if he wasn't in compliance with minimum standards of care, that he didn't create the problem of the both the infection and the perforation of the sinus.

In the legal system you have to show negligence, that the negligence caused problem and that their is a financial component to recover damages. From where I read what you have posted, you have negligence in either the treatment or follow up care, you have the negligence causing you problems because the failure to diagnose and treat immediately creates a problem for you, and there will be a financial component to this matter.

[chefant]

When I went for the exam they did not even take xrays he went from an xray from a year ago. Im going to oral surgeon in two days and will see what they say about the care this guy gave me. Should i have any contact with the denist about going to see the oral surgeon or wait till i talk to a lawyer

[mmmagique]

I consulted my fiance who is an oral and maxofacial surgery (sp?) professor, and he says you have a case, and to consult an attorney.

Using an xray from a year ago is unconscionable.

p.s. he said to tell you that the condition you describe is an oro-antril fistula

[ecmst12]

You don't know what kind of case you have, regardless of any negligence, until you know what your permanent damages will be, if any.

[barry1817]

Originally Posted by ecmst12

You don't know what kind of case you have, regardless of any negligence, until you know what your permanent damages will be, if any.

One doesn't need to wait for the knowledge of permanent damages to seek legal, and to file a claim. A good attorney will take into consideration, in a valid legal claim, the potential problems that may result from the negligence.

There are time limits that must be followed, and valid cases have been lost because that time frame hasn't been followed.

[lya]

Perforating the sinus may not have been due to negligence. Using the x-ray from a year ago may have been improper, yet, the act may not have been the cause of the damage.

Damages must be solely the result of negligence and not attributable to any other cause.

An award for damages must be sufficient to pay for legal action and to compensate the plaintiff with a fair amount of $.

I think this OP is in a holding position until he/she receives an evaluation by an oral surgeon and by an ENT.

I believe the OP should consult with a medmal attorney BEFORE quizzing a potential witness (oral surgeon and ENT) as there is more to be protected than the statute of limitations. The OP could inadvertently taint his/her own case by conducting a self-designed interview of potential expert witness(es).

[barry1817]

Originally Posted by lya

Perforating the sinus may not have been due to negligence. Using the x-ray from a year ago may have been improper, yet, the act may not have been the cause of the damage.

Damages must be solely the result of negligence and not attributable to any other cause.

An award for damages must be sufficient to pay for legal action and to compensate the plaintiff with a fair amount of $.

I think this OP is in a holding position until he/she receives an evaluation by an oral surgeon and by an ENT.

I believe the OP should consult with a medmal attorney BEFORE quizzing a potential witness (oral surgeon and ENT) as there is more to be protected than the statute of limitations. The OP could inadvertently taint his/her own case by conducting a self-designed interview of potential expert witness(es).

As stated perforation of a sinus can happen in the best of care, the failure to deal with a post -op problem and to check for this issue would be below the standard of care.

This person belongs with dental malpractice attorney, sooner than later, and needs an attorney that can call on his panel of experts, or even just to ask the right questions, to resolve this very quickly and easily.

[mmmagique]

I agree with Barry.

OP, have you talked to anyone?