Dentist dislocated my jaw

fto

Hi,

Went to the dentist for a small filling.......He told me to open my mouth wider which I did,he seemed to push mush harder on my jaw than my usual dentist.After it was over, I could not seem to shut my mouth,the dentist then jaw grabbed my bottom jaw with great force & this made it much worse & i was in agony.After a while I told him i needed a minute, because i think i was in shock...so i went into the waiting room....still in agony.They never offered to take me somewhere private.The dentist then asked if he could try again,again he failed & decided to call a facial specialist at A&E, who told him to send me there.They never offered me any transport to the A&E, I had to drive.The doctor at A&E was very good managed to put my jaw back,although it was very painful. They bandaged my jaw overnight & told me to stick to liquids for the next week.They also told me to take a week off work ( I only took one day off, because we really need the money).Do you guys think I should ask the dentist for my loss of earnings, or was it just one of those things?

crazyguy

fto wrote: »

Hi,

Went to the dentist for a small filling.......He told me to open my mouth wider which I did,he seemed to push mush harder on my jaw than my usual dentist.After it was over, I could not seem to shut my mouth,the dentist then jaw grabbed my bottom jaw with great force & this made it much worse & i was in agony.After a while I told him i needed a minute, because i think i was in shock...so i went into the waiting room....still in agony.They never offered to take me somewhere private.The dentist then asked if he could try again,again he failed & decided to call a facial specialist at A&E, who told him to send me there.They never offered me any transport to the A&E, I had to drive.The doctor at A&E was very good managed to put my jaw back,although it was very painful. They bandaged my jaw overnight & told me to stick to liquids for the next week.They also told me to take a week off work ( I only took one day off, because we really need the money).Do you guys think I should ask the dentist for my loss of earnings, or was it just one of those things?

Did you get a report from the doctor, if so send it in to the dentist with a covering letter stating that you have been off of work on unpaid wages and are seeking them to reimburse you.

squeaky

If you are a private patient then the following link may be of help:-

http://www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk/

If not, then you'll need the NHS complaints procedure.

Oliver14

fto wrote: »

Hi,

Went to the dentist for a small filling.......He told me to open my mouth wider which I did,he seemed to push mush harder on my jaw than my usual dentist.After it was over, I could not seem to shut my mouth,the dentist then jaw grabbed my bottom jaw with great force & this made it much worse & i was in agony.After a while I told him i needed a minute, because i think i was in shock...so i went into the waiting room....still in agony.They never offered to take me somewhere private.The dentist then asked if he could try again,again he failed & decided to call a facial specialist at A&E, who told him to send me there.They never offered me any transport to the A&E, I had to drive.The doctor at A&E was very good managed to put my jaw back,although it was very painful. They bandaged my jaw overnight & told me to stick to liquids for the next week.They also told me to take a week off work ( I only took one day off, because we really need the money).Do you guys think I should ask the dentist for my loss of earnings, or was it just one of those things?

Just to say your Jaw wasn't dislocated maybe subluxed but not dislocated. The force needed to dislocate a jaw would have fractured it. I'm also confused as to why a Doctor would tell you to take a week off work with a problem with your jaw (unless you're in telesales)

I assume that you have been referred to a MaxFacial Consultant for follow up. (If you haven't they obviously weren't convinced it was that bad). Ask the consultant for a report including proposed mechanism injury and if it was due to xome congenital problem or excessive force.

naz101

Oliver14 wrote: »

Just to say your Jaw wasn't dislocated maybe subluxed but not dislocated. The force needed to dislocate a jaw would have fractured it. I'm also confused as to why a Doctor would tell you to take a week off work with a problem with your jaw (unless you're in telesales)

I assume that you have been referred to a MaxFacial Consultant for follow up. (If you haven't they obviously weren't convinced it was that bad). Ask the consultant for a report including proposed mechanism injury and if it was due to xome congenital problem or excessive force.

The force needed to dislocate your jaw does not always lead to fracture.
I know this as I am one of those people who puts them back in. For a young person if you open your mouth wide enough and may have some sort of factor that may lead to dislocation, some force placed on it may indeed dislocate it.

Im not sure why you were told to take a week off. Usually people go back to work the next day with some painkillers and warned not to chew hard things or open their mouth really wide as it may dislocate again...

im not quite sure if you can claim for loss of earnings tbh although im not sure in this situation. I would think its just one of those things.

halibut2209

Ah, the joys of trying to prove negligence.

You could ask. If they refuse, court is your only option. Then you'd have to get an expert testimony to show that it was negligence etc etc

fto

Thanks for the replys.
My jaw was dislocated on the side i had the filling, my bottom jaw had been pushed about 10mm to the right,sort of twisted.The doctor said he had never seen it dislocated on one side before.

naz101

it definately can dislocate just one one side.
its unfortunate that the dentist didnt know how to pop it back in as it could have saved you some pain but it is something that requires a bit of know how and experience. maybe the dr you saw in a+e wasnt that experienced with dislocated jaw. only a few know and feel comfortable about putting it back into place.

I am not in any way trying to dismiss what happened. It is a very painful thing to happen, just like a shoulder popping out etc but sadly that is one of the things that can happen when doing fillings. I have never seen it happen but we are taught to recognise it when it does happen.:(

flyer64

Please complain. As the poster above says you'll need to go through the right channels depending on whether you're private or nhs. You don't have to be horrible but the only way things change is if patients point things out. You never know, this dentist could be guilty of other errors and if so he should be investigated.

(FYI my dentist was struck off and investigated by numerous teams for malpractice, negligence, fraud. Presumably he'd been harming people for years before he was found out - well that's what the documentary said...)

Laz123

I had to have three wisdom teeth extracted at Ashford hospital in the 70's. Because my mouth is quite small the surgeons had to dislocate my jaw for easier access. My face was swollen for about two days after. Even today I can 'click' my jaw sometimes.

mrcow

No it's not "one of those things" - you should definately be pursuing a complaint and in the least claiming for any loss of earnings you've had. Has your jaw returned to normal? Once this has happened, you can get recurring problems.