Possible dental malpractice.

[Andromache]

A few months ago, I had an abcess tooth that required an emergency appointment with a dental surgeon. I thought at the time that my wisdom teeth were coming in. (I was 19 at that time and am 20 now.) When I saw the surgeon, he did a quick examination and declared that the tooth was abcessed and would have to come out that very day unless I wanted to spend a lot of money to save it. He then injected me with novacaine in the affected area. I then had a violently nauseous reaction and required oxygen to recover. Only afterwards, he handed me the surgery consent form which told me that some people will have a rare reaction to the novacaine injection. He removed the tooth, and the receptionist called a cab for me. As I was on my way out, they informed me that I owed them money. I was surprised to hear this since I am a member of Tricare, which entitled me to 100% emergency coverage no matter what. I was still nauseous and light-headed at the time, so I arranged to pay them at a later date. Recovering some 8 hours later, I realized that I may have a malpractice case. I would like some confirmation to see if my gut instinct was right.

 

[Andromache]

addendum

I neglected to mention that this was in New Mexico.

 

[PamSJS]

Dear Toothless;

In order to file a claim against the dentist, you would have to:

1) have suffered some type of injury

2) The injury must have been from an act of negligence

3) Another dentist would have to testify that Dentist #1 was
negligent.

A reaction to local anesthetic would not constitute a claim for dental malpractice, as it is a common side effect.

Stop grinding your teeth and forget about it....you don't have a case.

Pam