By Jo Anderson. Last Updated 24th July 2023. In this guide, we will explore whether you could be eligible to make a dental nerve damage claim and how much compensation you could receive if you have a valid claim.
When you go to the dentist, you can expect to receive the correct level of care.
However, in some cases, a dentist may provide care that falls below the expected standard, causing you additional harm or a worsening of your condition that could have been avoided.
Dental nerve damage can happen in various ways. For instance, they can happen during operations such as root canal surgery or tooth removal procedures. This type of injury could lead to you experiencing long-term issues such as ongoing pain.
If you have experienced an incident of dental negligence that has resulted in you sustaining damage to your nerves, this guide could help you understand more about the compensation you may be owed.
To begin your claim, please get in touch with our team today. We could provide you with a skilled medical negligence lawyer to handle your claim. For more information, you can:
- Call us on 0800 073 8801
- Fill out our contact form with your query
- Use the live chat feature below.
Select A Section
- A Guide On How Much Your Dental Nerve Damage Claim Could Be Worth
- What Is A Dental Nerve Injury?
- What Duty Of Care Does Your Dentist Have?
- Your Rights When Undergoing Dental Care
- Can Dental Work Cause Neurological Problems?
- Did Dental Negligence Cause Your Injury?
- Dental Nerve Damage Symptoms
- How Do Doctors Treat Dental Nerve Injuries?
- Calculate Your Dental Nerve Damage Claim Settlement
- Can I Claim Other Types Of Damages?
- Do No Win No Fee Solicitors Handle Dental Nerve Damages Claims?
- Why Choose Us For A Dental Nerve Damage Claim
- Speak To An Expert
- Learn More
A Guide On How Much Your Dental Nerve Damage Claim Could Be Worth
In this guide, we will explain how tooth nerve damage could happen as a result of medical or clinical negligence. This could help you understand whether you’re eligible to make a claim for compensation.
Additionally, we will explore the process of making a claim and the evidence you may need to provide when seeking compensation for the harm you sustained.
We have aimed to cover the information you need in this guide, but if you have any questions after reading, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Our team can answer any further questions you might have.
What Is A Dental Nerve Injury?
A dental nerve injury involves damage to the nerves in the mouth. Dental nerve damage could happen for various reasons, such as if the dentist fits an implant that is too long for the jaw.
A dental nerve injury could include:
- Damage to the inferior alveolar nerve
- Damage to the lingual nerve
- Trigeminal neuralgia caused by damage to the trigeminal nerve
This is not an exhaustive list. If you have experienced a similar injury that could have been avoided had your dentist provided the correct level of care, call us to find out whether you could make a dental nerve damage claim.
What Duty Of Care Does Your Dentist Have?
The General Dental Council (GDC) regulates registered dental professionals in the UK. They focus on ensuring patients receive safe and correct care by setting standards for registered dental professionals.
There are various professionals in the dentist industry that may need to register with the GDC, including:
- Dentists
- Dental hygienists
- Dental nurses
- Clinical dental therapists
- Dental technicians
All dental professionals have a duty of care towards their patients. They must provide a standard of care that could be reasonably expected within their profession.
However, in some cases, they may fail to do so, leading you to sustain an additional injury or avoidable harm. If a dentist breaches the duty of care they owe you causing you harm that could have been avoided, they may have acted negligently.
If you have evidence to suggest that a dental professional acted negligently, call our team to discuss whether you could make a dental nerve damage claim.
Your Rights When Undergoing Dental Care
The standards of care set out by the General Dental Council state that patients have the right to know:
- The cost of dental treatment.
- Details of what the treatment will involve.
- Information that allows them to make an informed decision.
- Details of other treatment options that are available.
Can Dental Work Cause Neurological Problems?
A neurological disorder could include those that affect the nerves located in the body. As such, if you receive dental treatment that damages the nerves, it could cause neurological problems.
For example, a dentist may use the wrong needle to inject you with an anaesthetic. As a result, you may experience nerve damage to the surrounding areas.
Alternatively, you may experience surgical negligence that results in nerve damage. For example, a dentist may incorrectly perform a root canal procedure causing permanent damage to the nerves in your gums.
Did Dental Negligence Cause Your Injury?
We have looked at different examples of dental negligence in the following sections. However, if you would like to discuss a different type of dental nerve damage claim, call our team on the number above.
Negligent Root Canal Surgery
Dentists often carry out root canal surgery to treat an infection or decay at the centre of a tooth. Root canal surgery can often save a tooth that would otherwise have to be removed.
However, a dentist could use the wrong equipment causing damage to the nerves at the centre of the tooth.
Negligent And Harmful Removal Of A Tooth
A broken tooth may be removed if it is too damaged to be saved. However, your dentist may have caused nerve damage when removing the tooth if they failed to perform the procedure correctly.
Just because a complication has arisen in your tooth removal does not mean your dentist acted negligently. However, if you can prove that the harm you experienced happened because of a breach of duty of care, you may be able to claim.
Negligent And Harmful Implantations
If a dentist does not carry out dental implantation treatment correctly, this could lead to dental nerve damage.
For example, your dentist could drill too deeply into your jaw. Alternatively, they could insert an implant that is too long, causing pressure on the nerves around the jaw.
Dental Nerve Damage Symptoms
Tooth nerve damage from a dental injury could cause serious pain. If you can prove that nerve damage in your tooth was caused by the negligence of your dentist or another medical professional, you may be eligible to make a claim.
One type of nerve damage is trigeminal neuralgia, which the NHS describes as a sharp shooting pain in your jaw, gums or teeth. It may affect one side of the face, or in some cases, both sides of the face. However, it is unusual for both sides to be affected at the same time.
Below we have listed some dental nerve damage symptoms:
- A facial pain described similarly to an electric shock
- Sore teeth, jaw or gums
- A throbbing or aching sensation
- Inflamed gums
If you have suffered nerve damage in your tooth as a result of a negligent dentist, get in touch to find out how you could claim compensation amounts.
How Do Doctors Treat Dental Nerve Injuries?
Treatment will vary depending on the type of damage you have sustained to your nerves. However, according to the NHS, treatment for trigeminal neuralgia may include:
- Identifying triggers and avoiding them where possible
- Certain medication
- Surgery
For more information on the treatment you could receive for your nerve damage, please speak with a trained medical professional. Our team can help you with information related to making a claim for dental negligence.
Calculate Your Dental Nerve Damage Claim Settlement
Your compensation payout following a successful dental nerve damage claim may include general and special damages. General damages compensate you for the pain and suffering caused by the harm you experienced.
The amount of compensation you could receive for the harm you sustained will vary depending on several factors such as the severity of the injury and the impact on your quality of life.
Medical evidence and reports will be used to assess the extent of the harm you sustained. Alongside this, guidelines from the Judicial College may also be used to help value your claim. These guidelines provide bracket compensation amounts for different types of harm.
We have used these figures in the table below but you should only use them as a guide because your overall settlement will vary.
Injury | Comments On This Injury | Settlement Bracket |
---|---|---|
Facial Disfigurement (a) | Scarring that is very severe and has caused a very disfiguring cosmetic effect and a severe psychological reaction. | £29,780 to £97,330 |
Facial Disfigurement (b) | Less severe scarring where there is still a substantial level of disfigurement and a significant psychological reaction. | £17,960 to £48,420 |
Facial Disfigurement (c) | Scarring that’s significant but the worst effects will have been reduced by surgery. | £9,110 to £30,090 |
Facial Disfigurement (e) | Scarring that is trivial. | £1,710 to £3,530 |
Damage To Teeth | Where the person has chronic and significant tooth pain. This could be caused by lack of treatment for an abscess and could have extended over several years. | Up to £38,130 |
Damage To Teeth (i) | Where the person has suffered either the loss of or damage to several of their front teeth which is serious in nature. | £8,730 to £11,410 |
Damage To Teeth (ii) | This includes the loss of or serious damage to two of your front teeth. | £4,350 to £7,630 |
Damage To Teeth (iii) | This includes either injury and damage to or the loss of one front tooth. | £2,200 to £3,950 |
Damage To Teeth (iv) | This includes the loss of or damage to the back teeth. | £1,090 to £1,710 |
Jaw (iii) | A simple jaw fracture with a complete recovery. | £6,460 to £8,730 |
For more information on calculating compensation, call our team.
Can I Claim Other Types Of Damages?
As part of the medical negligence claims process, you may also be eligible to claim compensation for any additional costs incurred as a result of the harm you sustained under special damages.
Examples of the additional costs might include:
- Medical expenses
- Care costs
- Travel expenses
- Loss of earnings
However, you must provide evidence to prove any losses, such as payslips or receipts.
Do No Win No Fee Solicitors Handle Dental Nerve Damages Claims?
If you have suffered a damaged tooth nerve and meet the eligibility criteria to pursue a dentist nerve damage claim, one of our experienced solicitors may be able to help you. Furthermore, they may offer to assist you with your claim on a No Win No Fee basis under a Conditional Fee Agreement.
Under such an arrangement, you will not be required to pay your solicitor any upfront for their services or during the duration of your claim. You will also not be obligated to pay them for the work they have provided should your claim be unsuccessful.
If your dental nerve damage claim is successful, your solicitor will take a small, legally capped success fee from your compensation payout.
To see if you may be eligible to work with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors for your dental negligence claim, you can contact one of our advisors.
Why Choose Us For A Dental Nerve Damage Claim
It’s important that you choose the right solicitors for your case when deciding who you’d like to represent your claim. There are several factors you may wish to consider, including:
- The solicitor’s experience
- The way in which they communicate with claimants while the claim is ongoing
- Whether they offer No Win No Fee services
Our solicitors could represent your claim to help you seek the compensation you deserve. They have experience in all kinds of dental negligence claims and can communicate with you at every step of the claim.
For more information, please see below for how you can get in touch with us.
Speak To An Expert
If you’re ready to make a dental nerve damage claim to seek compensation for the harm you sustained, our advisors could help. They can offer you a free valuation of your claim and assess whether your case has a chance of success.
If they find that your case has a chance of succeeding, they could put you in touch with one of our experienced dental negligence solicitors.
Alternatively, they could answer any questions you may have regarding the claims process.
Please get in touch by:
- Calling us on 0800 073 8801
- Filling out our contact form with your query
- Using the live chat feature below.
Learn More
We have included some additional guides and resources that you may find helpful below.
- Wrong Tooth Extraction Claims Guide
- Wrong Medication Dosage Claims Guide
- Dental Abscess Negligence Claims Guide
- For more information on toothache, see this NHS guide.
- Visit this NHS guide on what a nerve injury is.
- See the Care Quality Commission for further information on the fundamental standards they have set.
If you need any additional information on making a dental nerve damage claim, please call our team on the number above.
Guide by HC
Edited by MMI/FS