Gum Disease (Periodontal) Compensation Claims

Compensation For Undiagnosed Gum Disease

Periodontal disease, better known as gum disease, is a common occurrence in everyday dentistry. It’s something that dentists are required to check for as part of a routine appointment and there are signs that they’ll be looking out for when they do their assessment of your teeth and mouth.

However, if the dentist failed to spot signs of gum disease or if they did see you have periodontal gum disease but didn’t properly explain to you how you could prevent it from getting worse, you could have a case for dental negligence.

Should you think your care was negligent, and you believe you have grounds for a claim, it’s worth speaking to an experienced solicitor – and that’s where we can help.

At Been Let Down, we have a skilled team who are experts in bringing gum disease claims, helping clients in England and Wales to seek the compensation they’re entitled to. Our team will work with you to find out what happened and take you through the steps to help you make a claim.

What is periodontal gum disease?

Periodontal gum disease is a condition where the gums become sore, swollen, or infected. According to the European Federation of Periodontology, gum diseases are the most common conditions suffered by people in Europe, with eight out 10 aged 35 and over experiencing some type of gum complaint.

Gum disease is caused by plaque building up on the teeth. Plaque can often contain harmful bacteria, affecting teeth and gums if not cleaned away. This build-up of harmful bacteria can cause gum disease. Periodontal disease can cause gum recession, abscesses, and, if left untreated, can lead to loss of teeth.

Mild cases are usually treated by improving oral hygiene and your dentist or hygienist will thoroughly clean your teeth when you go for a check-up. For cases where the gum disease is severe, further dental, and potentially medical, treatment may be necessary.

Whatever the level of disease that’s present, it’s the dentist’s job to spot signs of disease and offer advice and treatment. If not, they could be negligent.

Common complications resulting from instances where the dentist has failed to spot signs of gum disease include:

• Tooth detachment from gum and jawbone
• Loss of teeth
• Nerve damage
• Damage to mouth and / or surrounding teeth
• Loss of jawbone

In what circumstances could a dentist be negligent?

If you’ve been to see the dentist for a check-up and they’ve failed to diagnose you, the dentist could be negligent for not telling you that you have symptoms of periodontal gum disease.

This also applies if they have seen you’re showing signs of gum disease and they’ve not told you. Even if the dentist does discover that you have gum disease, if they fail to advise you of preventive measures you could take to reduce the risk of further infection, they may be negligent.

Advice they should be giving includes:

• Explaining how to improve oral hygiene, for example, brushing and flossing techniques
• Making arrangements for you to see the dental hygienist
• Ensuring you are reminded to return for regular dental check-ups

Once gum disease is diagnosed, if there is no improvement after treatment, the dentist should make a referral to a specialist for further treatment. Again, if this referral doesn’t take place, this can mean your dentist has failed in their care to you and has been negligent.

In cases where the condition is not treated correctly and efficiently, the attachment of teeth to the jawbone can be impaired. This can result in loss of teeth and damage to the jawbone. Treatment costs to fix tooth loss as a result of periodontal gum disease can be very expensive, and if negligence is proven against the dentist, the cost of procedures to repair the damage can be included as part of the claim.

Another way that a dentist could have been negligent is if they haven’t made you aware of what a procedure involves. There are inherent risks for many dental procedures. Those risks should be fully explained to you by the dental professional before you have any treatment or undergo any procedure. If the dentist has failed to explain these risks, they may be negligent.

If you believe any of these examples of dental negligence have taken place, get in touch with our team. Gum disease claims, as with other types of dental negligence claims, can be complicated as we have to prove you received poor levels of care. However, we’ll talk to you about what happened and use our expertise to work out how best to proceed with your claim.

Is it possible to make a claim?

Dental patients who have periodontal gum disease but have neither been treated by their dentist nor referred to a specialist may have a strong claim. If either of these instances have happened to you, it’s worth speaking to our team.

When you go through a dental procedure, you have every right to expect high levels of skill, judgement, and care. If a dentist doesn’t uphold these standards, it may cause you unnecessary pain and suffering, potentially requiring expensive treatment to correct the problem.

To work out if you have a valid gum disease claim, we’ll need to take some time to establish whether you have a case we feel we can win. Our solicitors will assess whether negligence has occurred and if we can prove it. We make sure that we’re transparent with you from the moment you contact us and we’ll tell you after our first conversation if we think you have a case that could be successful.

How to make a periodontal gum disease claim

We know that you’ve been through a lot. You may have had to miss work due to follow-up appointments or pay for expensive corrective treatment to repair the damage that’s been done. By taking the steps towards making a claim, you’ll find that we will help you seek the compensation you deserve.

When you get in touch with our gum disease claim experts, you will be asked questions about your case. During that initial conversation, we’ll try to find out as much as possible about what happened to you. As well as asking about the events that occurred, we’ll ask about any injuries that you’ve sustained and how life has been for you since.

In doing this, we will be able to establish if you have a case that we think you could win and estimate the damages that we could pursue on your behalf. Our solicitors will do this, regardless of whether you are an NHS patient or you had private dental treatment.

So, if you think you have a claim, please speak to our solicitors today.

Why choose Been Let Down?

If you’re seeking advice from an experienced solicitor that knows and understands how to successfully bring gum disease claims, then please contact Been Let Down. Here’s why you should:

• Authorised and regulated legal practice

We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The SRA set the professional standards that solicitors need to adhere to in England and Wales.

• Experienced solicitors

We have specialist knowledge gained across a wide spectrum of gum disease claims.

• High success rates

You’ll be supported by a qualified solicitor from day one, with our legal experts able to advise you on whether or not you have good grounds for a successful periodontal gum disease claim.

Get in touch today

If you think that you have been let down, leading you to suffer injury and emotional distress as a result of a misdiagnosed periodontal disease, you may have a claim for compensation and other losses.

To contact us, you can phone 0800 234 3234, request a call back or use our online claims form to begin the process and a member of our friendly team will be ready and waiting to help you.