A co-worker recommended a dentist to me that he goes to who just happened to be on my discount dental plan. I did not have dental insurance.
I had gone to him needing a root canal and he talked me into replacing a permanent bridge on the lower right side of my mouth. After several tries, he fitted me with a bridge that the procelain started to disintergrate. A huge chunk of it broke off and I insisted that he replace it.
The kind of glue he used was so permanent that it took great effort to remove the chipped bridge. Finally, he had the lab remake the bridge and he re-placed it in my mouth. The problem is, the bridge never was glued in properly and there was a breech in it that it was really only glued in on the back existing tooth. Needless to say, the bridge eventually broke in two and upon removing it, my existing tooth broke off.
I called several malpractice lawyers who advised me that to sue this incompetent dentist it would cost me thousands of dollars in expert testimonies and legal fees. It wasn't worth it to spend money on a case I wasn't sure I could win. So I'm walking around with no teeth on the right side. Now I need to have dental implants which is the only remedy for my inability to eat on the right side. I really feel that there should be better means of having bad dentists be sued for malpractice, like lawyers who work on a contingency basis. But it seems dental law suits are not the same as other medical malpractice suits. I think there should be legislation to protect patients from such incompetent dentists.
Accident Consult Ltd is regulated by the Ministry of Justice and is authorised to undertake regulated
claims management activities under the provisions of the Compensation Act 2006
Further details of the Compensation Act and the work of the Ministry of Justice
can be found at www.claimsregulation.gov.uk.
