Dentistry

[Jerrald]

I suffered from an abcess on my tooth in the autumn of this year for which my dentist prescribed the wrong anti-biotics. I had to then go to an emergency dentist to get the correct medicine. It was then decided upon my next visit there that I would have to have root canal work on the lower molar. This was done but since then tooth has cracked by 5mm below the gum line and now I have been told that I will have to have the tooth removed. I say that the dentist has failed me. Is there anything I can do via small claims?

[Beltran]

ing from the US perspective, whether in Small Claims or a higher court, you need at least a written opinion from a qualified expert(another dentist) that the one you are suing did something "below the standard of care"(negligence) and as a result, you were damaged. But I don't think you can obtain such an opinion for the following reasons: firstly, giving you the wrong antibiotic is not necessarily negligence. If you had an allergic reaction or the antibiotic given just didn't work for you, it was probably the standard antibiotic for most people. Therefore, there was no negligence unless you told him about your allergy and he prescribed it anyhow.......but in which event you yourself should have questioned the prescription. Furthermore, it didn't kill you. It just delayed the process to get the tooth problem resolved. So, little or no damages as a result. Next, it sounds to me like they were trying to take the most conservative approach to the problem, as one would usually want. They tried antibiotics that didn't do the job. They tried a root canal which might have saved the tooth but didn't, and finally they realized that extraction would be necessary. Therefore, even if you had perfect care, the tooth was probably a goner in any event. And finally, how much is a lost tooth that was doomed anyhow, worth? Probably nothing. Therefore, I don't think you have much to complain about and even if you did, you won't find a dentist to support you and therefore you could not present a legal case for compensation.

[Tangakwunu]

If you are in the UK, I really can't provide the best advice because your system is very different from here in the US.  I wasn't even aware that you had a Small Claims Court system in the UK.