Dental Malpractice Attorney California

Duty: The Dentist’s Duty to the Patient

Just like medical doctors, all dentists have a legal duty to ensure they comply fully with the standard of care set forth for dentists treating patients. “Standard of care” is a legal term of art that refers to the level of care which an ordinary and prudent dentist would provide to a patient under the same circumstances. For example, a dentist in a rural area would not be compared to a high-level, big city dental specialist for the standard of care test. Rather, the standard of care always compares the dentist in question to a reasonable and prudent dentist of a similar geographic location and a similar educational background.

Breach: The Dentist’s Deviation from the Standard of Care

If the dentist fails to live up to the standard of care, the level of care provided by the hypothetical ordinary, prudent dentist, then in the legal world it is said that the dentist deviated from the standard of care. This is known as a breach of the duty of care to a patient, and you will be required to prove this breach in order to succeed in your claims for dental malpractice. However, just because there is a negative or unfortunate outcome following a dental procedure, it does not always mean there has been a breach of duty. Rather, a breach only occurs if the dentist’s care was not in line with the standard of care. All medical procedures, including dental procedures, carry some level of risk, including that the procedure will not be successful or the healing and recovery time may not go smoothly. However, there are clear-cut examples of dental malpractice that cannot be ascribed to anything other than negligence.

For instance, if a dentist removed a healthy tooth when the dentist was supposed to remove a damaged or infected tooth, that is clearly a deviation from the standard of care. No ordinary, prudent dentist would remove the wrong tooth during an extraction procedure. While some examples are clear-cut cases of dental malpractice, others can be much more difficult to prove. In such cases, it is typically necessary to obtain and use testimony from expert witnesses, typically other dental professionals. Those professionals can review the facts and circumstances surrounding the case and then provide testimony to the court about whether there was a breach of the duty of care owed to the patient in any given situation. To support the testimony that there was a breach, expert witnesses will typically speak to the following issues: (1) the standard of care that was due under the circumstances, given all the facts of the case, and (2) what the dentist’s conduct was and how he failed to meet the standard of care.

Damages: How You Were Harmed by Your Dentist

The last prong you must prove in your dental malpractice claim is the damage prong. If you did not suffer any damages, you would not be able to sustain a dental malpractice claim. You need to prove that the breach by the dental professional that completed your work caused you to suffer a harm. Common damages in dental malpractice cases can include: (1) financial damages, such as the costs you incurred to correct the dental professional’s mistake; (2) physical damages, such as a broken or missing tooth or a damaged nerve; and (3) non-economic damages, such as personal or professional embarrassment associated with having a visible problem with your teeth. Any damages that are caused by the dental professional’s breach are valid damages that form the basis for a recovery in your malpractice case.