QUESTION

My dentist pulled one tooth, drilled 3 in half and said he couldn''t continue and left me like that for 3 days until he got me into an oral surgeon.

Asked on Aug 20th, 2012 on Medical Malpractice - New York
More details to this question:
My dentist said he could pull all my bad teeth in his office, then he pulled 1, drilled 3 in half and then said he couldn''t do anymore because my roots were too long and my teeth were too bad off. He showed me on the xray why he couldn''t do it, so obviously knew ahead of time he shouldn''t have even started and should have sent me to an oral surgeon in the first place. I was left for 3 days with broken teeth in my mouth and in pain taking Vicodin until I had my surgery to get them removed. Then the pain of course started all over again and was 10x worse where he had already previously took a drill to my teeth. The dentist made some sort of payment arrangement with the oral surgeon where he is paying my bill or the surgeon is taking a loss of $2,000. I know medical malpractice and negligence was committed. What do you think? He obviously knows he messed up or else I would be stuck with the bill.
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1 ANSWER

Catastrophic Injury Attorney serving Roseland, NJ at John J. Ratkowitz
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Dental malpractice cases are difficult to prosecute for a malpractice attorney because they are usually not financially viable. Medical malpractice cases are very costly and time-consuming.  Therefore, in most circumstances a patient must have suffered a significant permanent injury as a result of medical negligence for the case to be financially viable. Often, damage caused by dental malpractice can be remedied with additional care. Further, lasting damage is usually not significant enough to warrant the time and expense of a lawsuit. There are exceptions to this (for example trigeminal nerve injury cases). Additionally, since different offices have different standards for whether a case is worth prosecuting, if you are interested in pursuing this further you should contact a local medical malpractice attorney (one in your state).  They take these cases on a contingency basis which means you only have to pay if you succeed.  Additionally, initial consultations are usually free. You can use the "Find a Lawyer" service through this website to research medical malpractice attorneys.  Then, visit each attorney's website and look for a firm that has a record of successful verdicts.  Below are some articles you may find helpful.  They are written for a New Jersey audience (where I practice) but the ideas discussed in these articles usually apply in most other jurisdictions as well. Click here for an article that discusses the three main questions I ask when deciding whether to investigate a potential medical malpractice case. This discusses the issue of financial viability. Click here for an article that explains what you can expect when filing a medical malpractice case. Click here for more information about me. Click here for more information about my firm. Please note that by attempting to answer your question, I am not acting as your attorney. I will do nothing further to protect or preserve your interests in the absence of any additional discussion with you about this matter. John Ratkowitz, Esq. Starr, Gern, Davison & Rubin, P.C. 105 Eisenhower Parkway Roseland, NJ 07068 Office: (973) 830-8441 Cell: (732) 616-6278 Fax: (973) 226-0031 Email: jratkowitz@starrgern.com  Skype: john_ratkowitz Web: www.starrgern.com.
Answered on Aug 22nd, 2012 at 10:08 AM

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