Is my dentist liable?

[cshults]

Hello,

I recently had braces and after they were removed my dentist fitted me with a retainer. After wearing the retainer for a couple of weeks I noticed pain in one tooth that only was present when I wore the retainer and I felt was caused by the the metal retainer being too tight and rubbing the surface of the tooth. I returned to the dentist to ask about this and to check the retainer. He assured me that all was fine and to continue to wear the retainer as instructed. The tooth in question broke today and most of it fell out in pieces. I am now left with a hole where my tooth used to be!

My smile is ruined and I'll obviously need to have the remainder of the tooth extracted and then be fitted for an implant. This will be a very expensive procedure that I don't feel I should have to pay for.

I take very good care of my teeth and there was no sign of tooth damage or decay on the tooth in question.

What can I do?

 

[racer72]

When you called the dentist and explained the situation, what were you told?

 

[cshults]

When I first contacted the dentist he instructed me that the feeling I was experiencing was normal and to continue to wear the retainer as originally instructed. I did as instructed and as several more weeks went by and the feeling did not go away so I contacted the dentist a second time about the situation. When I contacted him the second time the dentist refused to talk to me or perform an evaluation because I was behind in my payments (I had recently been laid off and was struggling to make payments). I did everything I was told to do by the dentist and now I am missing a tooth.

 

[justalayman]

it would likely be quite expensive to mount a suit against the dentist (doesn't an orthodontist typically deal with braces). It will require an expert witness to testify to the cause of the injury ($$$$$). This is not likely to be something a lawyer would take on contingency as the amount of money is relatively small. That would mean paying the lawyer hourly and paying the expert witness out of your pocket.


I suspect there is a dental board for your state. That may be your best direction to attempt to deal with this issue.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

What proof do you have that this was not caused by something other than the retainer? Before paying a lawyer, you should see another dentist.

 

[barry1817]

dental

Hello,

I recently had braces and after they were removed my dentist fitted me with a retainer. After wearing the retainer for a couple of weeks I noticed pain in one tooth that only was present when I wore the retainer and I felt was caused by the the metal retainer being too tight and rubbing the surface of the tooth. I returned to the dentist to ask about this and to check the retainer. He assured me that all was fine and to continue to wear the retainer as instructed. The tooth in question broke today and most of it fell out in pieces. I am now left with a hole where my tooth used to be!

My smile is ruined and I'll obviously need to have the remainder of the tooth extracted and then be fitted for an implant. This will be a very expensive procedure that I don't feel I should have to pay for.

I take very good care of my teeth and there was no sign of tooth damage or decay on the tooth in question.

What can I do?

If I were to be reviewing this case to determine if there is a liability I would want the x-rays prior to treatment, to determine if the tooth had decay prior to treatment.

Teeth don't normally crumble from a retainer, but if the tooth had decay, that had been missed, that would be a problem.

Too options, peer review by the dental society, which could get you all funds paid returned, but no treatment in the future, and no ability to have punitive damages, and peer review prevents later malpractice law suit.

Seek out a malpractice attorney and let them evaluate your case, and determine if there is a case.



Having worked with many lawyers, they do usually have experts that can give a cursory review of your case, and would have to sign off on a negligence in order for a law suit to proceed.

 

[mmmagique]

If I were to be reviewing this case to determine if there is a liability I would want the x-rays prior to treatment, to determine if the tooth had decay prior to treatment.

Teeth don't normally crumble from a retainer, but if the tooth had decay, that had been missed, that would be a problem.

Too options, peer review by the dental society, which could get you all funds paid returned, but no treatment in the future, and no ability to have punitive damages, and peer review prevents later malpractice law suit.

Seek out a malpractice attorney and let them evaluate your case, and determine if there is a case.



Having worked with many lawyers, they do usually have experts that can give a cursory review of your case, and would have to sign off on a negligence in order for a law suit to proceed.

Agreed. You do not want to do this by yourself. My husband does expert witness (dental) reviews and testimony and when you're talking about expert witnesses, you are talking a lot of money. Your very best bet (imo) is to speak to several malpractice attorneys and let them review your case. If they think you have something, you can go from there.

(And I am sorry about what happened. From a non-expert, (like me!) it appears to be open and shut. The problem (imo) is proving that the braces were the sole cause of what happened. Good luck.)

 

[Optimtech]

Liable Dentist

When I plan to go to a dentist to determine about my tooth. The dentist said that I should need to wear a retainer. But since after 3 months of wearing retainer I noticed that theirs no changes. So, I came back and inform to a dentist about this case, he found out that he didn't give the right retainer for me. I don't think if that dentist i encountered is liable.

 

[Zigner]

When I plan to go to a dentist to determine about my tooth. The dentist said that I should need to wear a retainer. But since after 3 months of wearing retainer I noticed that theirs no changes. So, I came back and inform to a dentist about this case, he found out that he didn't give the right retainer for me. I don't think if that dentist i encountered is liable.

What are you mumbling about?

 

[Mass_Shyster]

What are you mumbling about?

Why do you ask? Somehow I don't think it's because you really want to know.

 

[ecmst12]

Never mind the hijack, but the entire purpose of a retainer is to keep things the way they are - to RETAIN the current position of the teeth! So if nothing changed after wearing a retainer for 3 months then you are doing it right.