More details to this question:
My dentist put four crowns on my front teeth and since then I've had halitosis and very puffy red gums. It's Been a year now and a second opinion told me the crowns were incorrectly placed. I paid that dentist 7,000 dollars that I had borrowed from relatives to replace my crowns. This has been a nightmare for me and I want to sue.
12 ANSWERS
Criminal Defense Attorney serving Anderson, SC
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The David F. Stoddard Law Firm
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It is possible you have a viable case. There is legitimate question whether your damages are sufficient to justify a suit. It will likely cost $5,000.00 to 15,000 in expert witness fees and deposition costs to take this to court (this does not include lawyers' fees). I do not know what it will cost to correct the problem. What you can argue in court that you are entitled to is the cost to correct the problem, and whatever you can convince a jury your suffering with this problem is worth (usually, if the problem is not permanent and you do not have to suffer with it for the rest of your life, this is a relatively moderate amount). You would have to consult some medical malpractice attorneys and see if any think it is worth taking on a contingency fee basis (that is unless you are willing to pay $50,000.00 or so yourself and let the lawyer try to recover whatever damages he/she can prove).
Answered on Apr 07th, 2013 at 8:05 PM
Ronald A. Steinberg
Ask the second opinion dentist if he will testify.
Answered on Apr 05th, 2013 at 2:08 PM
Personal Injury -- Plaintiff Attorney serving Cleveland, OH
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Mishkind Law Firm, Co., L.P.A.
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The statute of limitations for a dental claim is 1 year from the termination of your relationship with the dentist or the discovery of injury, whichever date is later. If you knew that you had a problem after his dental work and waited for more than 1 year you may have a problem. The facts of your case need to be reviewed carefully. Your other option is to file a complaint with the Ohio Dental Board in Columbus and see if they can help you. The potential recovery on your case may be exceeded by the cost of pursuing the claim so you need to talk to an experienced expert in this field.
Answered on Apr 05th, 2013 at 12:19 PM
Personal Injury Attorney serving Kent, WA
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Law Offices of Wayne J. Wimer, Inc. P.S.
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Your problem is a proof problem. In court you will have the burden of proving that what the dentist did is in fact causing the halitosis problem and the puffy red gums problems. Often times those problems are caused by lack of proper dental care and cleaning. Ultimately you will need an expert witness who is willing to testify that there was negligence on the part of your dentist, and that such negligence has caused the problems that you are left with. Until you have an expert witness who is willing to testify (they are expensive to hire), you will get nowhere with the dentist who incorrectly placed the crowns.
Answered on Apr 05th, 2013 at 11:51 AM
James Eugene Hasser
If you can prove the dentist failed to follow proper protocol, you might. You have to have another dentist willing to testify to that, though.
Answered on Apr 05th, 2013 at 11:28 AM
Probably so, if the second dentist or another expert will testify that the first dentist did not live up to the standard for dentists in the community.
Answered on Apr 05th, 2013 at 11:19 AM
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney serving Syracuse, NY
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Andrew T. Velonis, P.C.
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Dental malpractice cases are always difficult to prove, as well as expensive and time consuming. You will have to be able to prove a failure to conform to accepted practice, and resulting injury as well, and expert witness testimony is required for that reason. In order to be able to pursue the matter, the consequences would have to be severe enough to merit a substantial enough recovery to justify the time and expense.
Answered on Apr 05th, 2013 at 10:23 AM
Personal Injury Attorney serving Charlotte, NC
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Paul Whitfield and Associates P.A.
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If dentist 2 says dentist 1 is guilty of malpractice and if dentist 2 says he will testify for you then you have the start of a case. the problem is that it will take more than 7000 worth of a lawyers time to prosecute the case for you and it will cost you several thousand dollars for expert witnesses and court costs. Still want to sue? Why don't you just ask dentist to refund your money or turn your claim over to his liability carrier.
Answered on Apr 05th, 2013 at 9:41 AM
Employment Law Attorney serving Beverly Hills, CA
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Dordick Law Corporation
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If this is in California and its been more than one year, you have a problem in that the statute of limitations is one year. You still should be able to go back to him to fix his work. The one argument you can make is that you just discovered that he negligently installed the crowns and that your one year commences from the date of discovery. But the law requires you to be diligent, so it would be a tough battle. You should talk to a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible.
Answered on Apr 05th, 2013 at 9:41 AM
Michael Eric Wasserman
You received an opinion that the crowns were not correctly placed which indicates you have a claim. The value of the claim is dependent upon the necessary treatment to repair the problem. If the problem can be repaired easily by replacement of the crowns only, then you have a claim of limited value that would make it difficult to proceed with a lawsuit due to expenses. If you need additional care or there is an indication of future problems due to the improper placement the value of your claim increases sufficiently to proceed in a court action. You will need the matter assessed by a lawyer to review the records of the first dentist and the issues with the crowns as indicated by the dentist who gave you the second opinion. This type of case appears easy on its face but professional negligence cases are never easy.
Answered on Apr 05th, 2013 at 9:40 AM
These are difficult cases for lawyer to evaluate mostly because of the litigation costs involved with proving up a malpractice case. A case like this could easily cost $7,000 in expert witness fees. Considering the most you could get is $7,000 is makes little sense economically. So my guess is you'll have a difficult time finding a lawyer willing to pursue it.
Answered on Apr 05th, 2013 at 9:39 AM
Automobile Negligence Attorney serving Orlando, FL
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Kelaher Law Offices, P.A.
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In Florida, you can only bring a claim against a health care provider if you can get another "similar health care provider" to testify that the original dentist deviated from the prevailing standard of care. I'd go to the dentist who gave you a second opinion and see if he or she will be willing to help.
Answered on Apr 05th, 2013 at 9:22 AM