Q: A surgeon has caused more harm then good whilst removing teeth and now i need more surgery, do i have a case?
I had surgery to remove 4 wisdom teeth. 3 of them are fine but the 4th has been in tremendous pain. I consulted another dentist, and they believe it is due to negligence from the surgeon. From what the second dentist told me, its customary to do a ct scan before wisdom surgery, but that was not done. They also failed to provide any tools for care after the surgery. everybody i know who has had teeth removed received little squirt bottles or some type of tools to assist in keeping the area clean. i was never offered or informed of these. ive tried calling many times to get something done, and while their phone lines say they are open, nobody is answering. im now going in for potential reconsctructive surgery tomorrow (with the second dentist)and i have no idea if im going to be covered by insurance i want to know if t is worth contacting a lawyer for malpractice or if if thats a lost cause. ive missed out on work and will now miss even more work because of this.
A:
I am trying to understand your facts. What exactly, is the reconstructive surgery you are having done. I am not understanding why removal of a wisdom tooth would cause you to need reconstructive surgery? What exactly is the surgery you need now? Can you clear that up?
You will need an expert to go on the record and state that the prior surgeon's care fell below the standard of care, which it sounds like you have your current dentist saying that. If the prior surgeon did something wrong that caused you to have a separate surgery and you have an expert who will write a report and willing to testify to it, then you may have something to work with. However, just as a heads up, without significant permanent injuries you likely will not find an attorney to take the case on a contingency basis because med mal cases are extremely expensive, and depending on the surgery you are referring to, might not even rise to the level of a med mal case due to limited damages. Example, the reconstructive surgery costs $2,000.00 and you have no permanent issues thereafter. That would not rise to the level of a med mal case because just getting an expert opinion in writing for a demand letter (required by law) is likely going to cost more money than that amount.
Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer
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