Dental Malpractice

Atlanta Dental Malpractice Attorney

Dental Malpractice occurs when the treatment provided by a dentist or dental assistant falls below the acceptable standard of care causing serious personal injuries. Like other areas of professional malpractice, dental malpractice is a form of negligence. That is why you may hear "dental malpractice" and "dental negligence" used interchangeably by experienced Atlanta personal injury lawyers.

Common examples of dental malpractice include:

Damaging dental nerves when performing root canals, placing implants or performing extractions
Severing the lingual nerve when removing teeth
Causing nerve damage by improperly placing dental implants
Causing lingual nerve damage or Inferior Alveolar nerve damage when removing wisdom teeth or molars
Improperly using anesthetic drugs to numb the mouth and teeth causing permanent nerve injuries
Pulling the wrong teeth
Failure to refer the patient to a specialist such as an endodontist or or oral surgeon when the treating dentist is not qualified to perform the treatment at issue
Failure to perform a complete and thorough oral exam to rule out any other causes of the problems at issue
Failure to properly test for and detect mouth cancer or tumors in the head, neck or jaw
Failure to properly read x-rays or dental cone beam CT scans (“CBCT”)
Carelessly injuring the oral cavity, jaw bone, or surrounding bone and tissue
Not properly administering antibiotics prior to dental surgical procedures, when the standard of care requires them to be utilized
Faulty root canals, implants, or extractions resulting in nerve injury or infections to the jaw, face and gums
Losing control of the dental drill or other dental instruments resulting in damage to anatomical structures such as puncturing the sinus cavity or damaging nerve canals
Not properly protecting the throat and airway resulting in ingestion of root canal materials and instruments

As experienced Atlanta dental malpractice lawyers, we start working for you as soon as we are retained. The first course of action is to send correspondence to the dentist demanding a full and complete copy of your dental records and that no records be destroyed. The records are yours and you are entitled to this information under Georgia law. We then fully investigate your dental malpractice case. This includes hiring the best specialists in the fields of dentistry at issue to act as our experts. These experts work with us to help determine if your injuries are due to malpractice and, if so, how the malpractice occurred and how it caused your injuries. Among other things, our dental experts do: study all of your dental records, perform research to fully understand the issues at stake, work closely with our experienced malpractice attorneys to determine strategy, investigate all potential defendants. If a dental malpractice suit is warranted based on the expert’s review and our investigation, we then draft affidavits to be filed with the court, and proactively manage your lawsuit to ensure that you receive the help you need to fully recover for your dental injuries.

Many victims of dental malpractice suffer serious injuries such as:

Infections in the head, mouth, tongue and brain
Permanent injuries to the tongue, nerves leading to the tongue (lingual nerve), and inferior alveolar nerve damage to the lips, chin, jaw and face
Pain and numbness in the lip, chin and jaw from dental nerve injuries
Heart attack
Stroke
Undetected cancers
Uncontrolled bleeds
Brain injury caused by infections
Lack of oxygen causes by infection
Other catastrophic injuries
Wrongful death

Serious injuries such as these usually result in large amounts of damages in the form of medical bills, out-of-pocket expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, disfigurement, future medical bills, and a diminished quality of life. In addition, the spouse of a seriously injured person is entitled to be compensated for their "loss of consortium," which is the loss that occurs when one loses their husband or wife’s companionship, services, and marital relations.

If you or a family member has suffered a permanent nerve injury or other serious injury due to dental malpractice, you are entitled to be fully compensated for your injuries. We are experienced Georgia dental malpractice lawyers who work hard to get you all that you are entitled to under the law. In some cases, the malpractice is obvious. Others are a bit more complex. We have earned our reputation by helping clients and families face life-changing tragedies such as this. We are experienced and skilled Georgia dental malpractice lawyers and we have recovered millions of dollars in damages for our clients.

If you would like to discuss your case in complete confidence with an experienced Atlanta, Georgia personal injury lawyer, call Robert J. Fleming directly at (404) 525-5150 or contact us online. We are here to help.