Dental negligence is a type of medical negligence where dental professionals fail to deliver care of a suitable standard, resulting in harm, injury, or unnecessary suffering for the patient. 

In recent years, there has been a rise in complaints about NHS dental practices.

The number of complaints to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) about dentists increased by 66% from 2017/18 to 2022/23.

This trend shows a significant dissatisfaction with the quality of dental care, suggesting that many patients may be experiencing substandard treatment. 

If you have suffered as a result of poor dental care, you may be entitled to seek compensation. While compensation cannot undo the events that have taken place, it can provide justice, cover medical expenses, and support your recovery. 

For such a claim to succeed, you need to prove that dental negligence occurred. So, how do you prove dental negligence?

Proving dental negligence can be difficult, as it requires proving that the care you received was below acceptable standards and that this directly caused you harm. 

Here, we’ll outline how to prove dental negligence and explain how experienced solicitors can help you build your case. 

How To Prove Dental Negligence

To prove that dental negligence occurred, you need to determine that the treatment delivered was substandard and that this directly caused your injury or worsened an existing condition. 

To do this, you must establish three critical elements: duty of care, breach of duty, and causation.

1. Duty of Care

Duty of care is typically straightforward in dental negligence cases. 

All dental professionals owe a duty of care to their patients, meaning they legally need to provide treatment that meets a standard level of competence. 

2. Breach of Duty

To prove a breach of duty, you must show that the treatment provided did not meet the standards expected of a competent dentist. 

The legal standard for this is the Bolam test. In the case of dental negligence, the test assesses whether a responsible panel of dental professionals would support the care provided in your case. 

If the treatment you received does not meet this benchmark, this constitutes a breach of duty. 

Examples of a breach of duty include:

• Making errors during treatment, such as damaging healthy teeth during an extraction.
• Performing procedures without fully explaining the risks.
• Failure to sterilise instruments properly, leading to infection.

3. Causation

After you’ve determined that a breach of duty occurred, the next step is demonstrating causation – that this breach directly caused you harm. This means that you need to show that your injury or worsening of your condition was a direct consequence of the dental professional’s negligence. 

Causation can be difficult to prove as this requires clear, convincing evidence linking substandard care to the harm you suffered. You may need medical records, expert testimony from dental professionals, or other supporting evidence to prove this connection.

Gathering Evidence In Clinical Negligence Claims

Collecting evidence for a dental negligence claim can be a long and difficult process. Given the complexity of clinical negligence law, it is highly recommended to enlist the help of a solicitor who specialises in this area. 

A solicitor can assist in gathering crucial evidence, like accessing your dental records and relevant documentation, to demonstrate the treatment you received was substandard. Their expertise ensures that all necessary information is collected efficiently, making your case stronger and increasing the chances of success. 

To support your dental negligence claim, your solicitor may ask you to collect proof of any out-of-pocket costs you’ve incurred as a result of the incident. This might include expenses for additional dental treatments required to fix the damage caused by the negligence. 

If the negligence resulted in you missing work or being unable to work, your loss of earnings can be factored into your claim. Documenting these losses means that they are taken into account when determining compensation you’re entitled to – if your claim is successful. 

How Long Will A Dental Negligence Claim Take?

It is difficult to put a timescale on how long a dental negligence claim will take as the timeline can vary based on the extent of investigations, the cooperation of third parties, and the amount of evidence that needs to be reviewed. 

The timeline can be shorter if the claim is settled early, or if the evidence is clear and the defendant is willing to admit liability. 

However, even in the case of a settlement, both parties need to agree on the compensation amount, and there may be back-and-forth negotiations. Working with an experienced clinical negligence solicitor can help ensure your claim progresses efficiently and that you’re kept informed at each stage.  

The Limitation Period For Clinical Negligence Claims

If you’re making a dental negligence claim, you need to be aware of the time limits for filing a claim. Clinical negligence claims in the UK, including dental negligence, are subject to a limitation period. This is the window in which you must initiate your claim. 

For most dental negligence claims, you will have three years from the date you received treatment. 

However, many patients that have experienced dental negligence do not realise that they have experienced bad treatment until much later, when the effects of incorrect care begin to show. 

If this is the case, where the effects of the negligence were not clear from the outset, you may be given an additional timeframe, calculated from the ‘date of knowledge’.

The date of knowledge refers to the point at which you first became aware – or reasonably should have become aware – that your symptoms were a result of negligent care. In this case, you have three years from this date to bring a claim forward.

How We Can Help

At Harding Evans, we understand how distressing dental negligence can be. If you’ve suffered as a result of inadequate dental care, we are here to support you.

Our clinical negligence solicitors have extensive experience helping clients secure the justice they deserve. We’ll help you gather necessary evidence, guide you through complex legal areas, and ensure your claim is filed within the appropriate time limits. 

Get in touch with a member of our team to find out more.