You may not like going to the dentist but, when you do, you expect to be taken care of professionally and responsibly. After all, dentists must be extensively educated and trained before New York will even allow them to begin practicing. Despite this education and training, they still make errors which injure the patients for whom they were supposed to provide care.
Dentists have a legal duty of care
Whenever a dentist-patient relationship exists, the dentist owes that patient a legal duty to provide care which falls within professional standards of acceptable treatment. If the dentist fails in their duty and provides care below the accepted standard, and injures the patient in the process, they are considered legally negligent.
Errors in judgment and mistakes are often at the heart of dental malpractice. A dentist might remove the wrong tooth or make some error relating to a crown, root canal or other procedure. Anesthesia mistakes can create serious respiratory problems. And failures to diagnose an oral condition, or misdiagnosing a condition, can lead to improper treatment or no treatment at all.
Personal injury lawsuit sometimes get a bad name – often referred to as frivolous. But the reality is that they are a powerful tool at your disposal when you suffer an injury due to dental malpractice. Their purpose is to make you whole again after your dentist makes a mistake at your expense. When they do, you don’t want to wait too long to do something about it. New York give victims two years and six months to file such a lawsuit, but there must also be an investigation first. It may be your best option to receive the compensation you’re entitled to for your injuries and to hold the dentist accountable.