Has anyone claimed for dental malpractice?

LondonDiva

treliac wrote: »

You are entitled to have advocacy assistance to make a claim.

Hope the following is helpful and that you are able to get this sorted out to your satisfaction. Good luck

http://www.pohwer.net/our_services/independent_1.html

Pohwer are only for NHS complaints.

if you want to make a complaint about private treatment, you need to complain under the practice's private complaints process and if you are still unhappy, then take it to the GDC's new private complaints process.

Toothsmith

You won't need all your evidence for the very beginning of the process - there's plenty of time for that later on.

I am concerned that your problem does seem quite unusual - all this stuff about teeth moving around as a result of a bridge. But I'm not in a position to say whether this is a valid claim or not.

What is certain though is that if the 3 year window closes, you will have no claim at all.

Katie-Kat-Kins

TraySelect wrote: »

Thank you for the replies
Toothsmith – the 100 pounds is to pay for an orthodontist to assess the damage and cost the solution. My own dentist – the one who plays squash with the original dentist and who said the work was ‘poor’ – advised me I would need to see an orthodontist to put the botched work right.
Without a costings for remedying this, I don’t understand on what basis I can complain – it would be futile as he has no evidence on which to investigate a complaint.
KatP – thanks for your input. It will cost me to make this claim – getting assessment, travel to and from dentists to so do. Hence I am looking for advice in dealing with the original dentist, including costing a claim. I am not out to make silly statements about psychological damage.

A question – the 3 year rule – I’ve checked and it’s nearly 3 years since the procedure was done. The disfigurement and discomfort has been creeping, gradual and is now pronounced. Should I lodge a complaint letter with the dentist now, in advance of trying to raise cash to get an assessment of what’s needed to put it right? Should I do this anyway before – possibly - talking to a lawyer?
Thanks again everyone

Don't worry about paying for assessments and costings, this can be covered within legal proceedings and reclaimed from the dentist's insurers.

If it is approaching three years since the treatment seek the advice of a lawyer immediately, do not delay for further investigations or to make your complaint you need to protect your position.

Toothsmith is correct that the crucial date is three years from when you discover the problem but "date of knowledge" as it is known is quite a tricky thing to define and can cause legal problems, but if you claim within three years of the date of the actual treatment then there can be no questions raised about limitation.

I must stress that you really need to get to a solicitor urgently or you could loose your right to claim.

Katie-Kat-Kins

TraySelect wrote: »

If I write a letter of complaint - alerting the dentist to the problem - within what time frame would I need to provide a specialist report to him of -
1. damage suffered,
2. remedy proposed and
3. cost of remedial treatment, plus my costs in getting this done [travel, costs of reports, time off work, etc].

I would want time to research and seek advice as to who would be appropriately skilled and experienced to put the problems right, and not cause yet more.

As I said at the beginning, I just want to remedy this without being steam-rollered by insurers, medics, etc. I just want to be able to smile again, and not have to suffer financial loss or cost in getting this botched job put right, and without dental problems down the line.

Get a qualified lawyer to deal with all this for you, professional negligence claims are complex and technical and you need a specialist to ensure that you recover what you are entitled to.

alison999

KatP wrote: »

Don't worry about paying for assessments and costings, this can be covered within legal proceedings and reclaimed from the dentist's insurers. .

surely thats only if they win?

Katie-Kat-Kins

alison999 wrote: »

surely thats only if they win?

No normally when dealing with a claim like this the solicitors will arrange a Conditional Fee Agreement with Legal Expenses Insurance. If she doesn't win the expenses incurred are paid by the Legal Expenses Insurance. This is to ensure that people aren't put off pursuing valid claims due to the cost. Thereby ensuring "Access to Justice".

My concern would be that if she pays for this assessment it won't comply with the correct procedures and format and will be worthless within the litigation and she won't be able to claim the cost back. Whereas if she sees a solicitor now they will follow the correct proceedures and get her examined by an independant dentist who is a trained expert witness and is familiar with their duty to the court.

TraySelect

Thank you all very much for this input and advice.

KatP - in terms of who does the assessment of damage and rectification required, do I rely on the lawyer to suggest someone, not find someone myself?

Yes, I am seeking legal advice within the 3 year window. As I said in the first post, I'm not out to make ridiculous claims, I simply want the work put right, and not to trip myself up in the process of dealing with the original dentist.

Thank you again

cleo1299

LondonDiva wrote: »

Pohwer are only for NHS complaints.

if you want to make a complaint about private treatment, you need to complain under the practice's private complaints process and if you are still unhappy, then take it to the GDC's new private complaints process.

It's called the Dental Complaints Service. I recently complained to them and was not very happy with the advice I received. (See thread "NHS treatment turned out to be private".) It seems to me that if I had followed their advice, it might have jeopardized my legal rights. (They advised me to pay the bill in full and then ask for a refund.)

I'm not a lawyer, so I might be mistaken about that. It might be worth contacting the Dental Complaints Service to see if they can help you get the dentist to pay for remedial work. If their advice seems excessively friendly to the interests of the dentist, rather than to your interests (as I felt it was in my case), you can just ignore it. For instance they might well start by advising you to "give the dentist an opportunity to put it right", but if you make it clear that you won't let this dentist anywhere near your teeth again, then they might move on to offering advice about how to get the dentist to pay for remedial work. Just don't do what they say unless you feel it's the right way to proceed.

There was an article about the Dental Complaints Service in "The Independent" on 12 Jan 2008. You should be able to find it if you go to the Independent website and use their "Advanced search" facility (top rh corner of their home page). It has some useful quotes from Hugh Smith, the head of the DCS, which give some idea of what issues they have dealt with in the past.

Good luck.

TraySelect

Cleo1299, thanks, that article in The Independent is helpful. It captures just how off-putting the complaints process can be for a lay person, and gives some useful info.

If there anyone else has had cause for concern about the standards [or costs] private dentistry, it's worth a read.

Katie-Kat-Kins

TraySelect wrote: »

Thank you all very much for this input and advice.

KatP - in terms of who does the assessment of damage and rectification required, do I rely on the lawyer to suggest someone, not find someone myself?

Yes, I am seeking legal advice within the 3 year window. As I said in the first post, I'm not out to make ridiculous claims, I simply want the work put right, and not to trip myself up in the process of dealing with the original dentist.

Thank you again

Your lawyers can arrange the assessment within the legal proceedure, there are legal requirements for the methid in which this is done though, if you organise it yourself it is unlikely to comply and will probably be a waste of money.