What Are Some Examples of Lawsuit Settlements for Damaged Teeth?

While not normally life-threatening, dental injuries can severely impact an individual’s appearance, speech, and ability to chew food. Moreover, a severe dental injury typically requires several dental visits that could be painful and expensive.  

If your teeth were damaged due to a third party’s negligent or deliberate conduct, you should not have to carry the financial burden alone. You could have a personal injury claim and seek compensation for your expenses and other losses. 

Lawsuit settlements for damaged teeth can be considerable, depending on the victim’s expenses, income loss, and suffering. Our experienced personal injury attorneys can assess your dental injury claim, determine whether you have a case, and pursue compensation. Get started and discover your options today by contacting us for a free consultation.

Common Tooth Injuries in Personal Injury Lawsuits 

Dental injuries in personal injury claims can occur due to an injury or trauma to the head and neck areas, such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), whiplash, and others. Common dental injuries lawsuits include injuries such as:

• Fractured, cracked, or broken teeth
• Chipped teeth
• Loose teeth (tooth luxation)
• Loss of one or several teeth
• Nerve damage

Causes of Damaged Teeth

Damaging your teeth can happen in numerous circumstances, including a fall, car accident, assault, and others. However, if someone else is responsible for causing your accident or fall leading to tooth damage, you could be entitled to compensation. Some of the most common reasons for damaged teeth can include:

Medical Negligence

Going to the dentist is not an enjoyable experience for most people. However, a dentist visit can turn from something mildly unpleasant into a painful nightmare if the dentist makes a major mistake, such as pulling the wrong tooth. 

Like all other medical providers, dentists have a duty of care toward their patients. While most dentists treat their patients with the care, attention, and skill they deserve, some deliver substandard treatment causing avoidable dental injuries. In many dental negligence cases, patients experience a great deal of ongoing pain and discomfort. Examples of dental malpractice can include:

• Extracting the wrong tooth.
• Negligent restorations, such as fillings, bridges, crowns, and others.
• Incorrect diagnosis or delayed diagnosis.
• Careless cosmetic treatments such as whitening, veneers, implants, and others.
• Failure to diagnose and treat cancer, cavities, or gum disease. 
• Causing permanent nerve damage.
• Chronic pain after dental treatment.
• Anesthesia injury.

If you suffered a severe dental injury due to dental malpractice by a dentist, hygienist, or other dental health care professional, you could potentially sue for damages. However, you must prove that the dental care provider failed to provide the standard level of care in treating you, causing your injury.  

Car Accidents

According to a study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), dental injuries in adolescents are often caused by traffic accidents. Tooth damage can happen even in low-speed crashes, for example, when the head strikes a part of the vehicle or object. Drivers can be at a higher risk of suffering dental injuries than other car occupants.

Some of the objects and dangers in vehicles that could lead to tooth injury include:

• The steering wheel
• The dashboard
• Airbags
• Broken glass 
• Objects flying around

If you suffered tooth damage in a vehicle accident, you could pursue compensation from the at-fault driver. A personal injury lawyer from Morgan & Morgan can determine whether you have a claim and move forward with legal action. 

Slip and Fall Accidents

Slips, trips, and falls can result in claims for damaged teeth. Facial and dental injuries after a severe fall are not only painful but may also require extensive treatment and a substantial financial investment to repair the damage. Common slip and fall accidents with dental injuries include: 

• Slipping on a wet, icy, or dirty floor. 
• Falling down a flight of stairs due to missing handrails or inadequate lighting.
• Tripping on bulging carpets, broken floorboards, or cracked sidewalks. 

If a property owner fails to maintain their premises and remove hazardous conditions, you could have a claim and seek compensation for your dental and other injuries. 

Work Accidents

Work-related tooth damage can occur in many ways, such as due to a slip and fall, an accident with a work vehicle, or even an assault at work. If your teeth are knocked out or damaged in a work accident, you could potentially file a workers’ compensation claim. However, the burden of proving that the dental injury is work-related will be on you. An attorney from our firm can help you prove your damaged teeth occurred at work.

Compensation You Could Receive for Damaged Teeth

While there is no average settlement for dental injuries, you could receive the following and other damages: 

• Cost of dental treatment 
• Estimated future cost of dental care
• Lost wages while recovering and at dental appointments
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Disfigurement

Dental damage settlements can be higher for younger individuals due to the estimated restoration and replacement work expected over a lifetime. 

Examples of Lawsuit Settlements for Damaged Teeth 

Dental injuries can be expensive, particularly if they are life-changing or cause chronic pain and discomfort. Lawsuit settlement amounts reflect this financial and emotional burden on the injured person. Examples of recent lawsuit settlements for tooth injuries include:

1. A woman in her 60s suffered a nerve injury during a tooth extraction. The dentist failed to remove all tooth fragments and injured the nerve due to drilling through the woman’s jaw bone. After the procedure, the woman suffered from chronic pain and numbness. She received $1 million in a dental malpractice lawsuit.  
2. A man with several medical conditions underwent a root canal treatment. The dentist administered several different types of sedative medications during the hours-long procedure, including morphine. As a result of receiving the medications, the patient later died. The case settled for over $1 million. 
3. A 75-year-old woman slipped and fell while shopping in Target, breaking two teeth and sustaining additional injuries. She was awarded $44,000 for her injuries.
4. After root canal treatment, a woman in her 50s was left with a broken-off dental instrument fragment in her jaw. Her treating endodontist did not inform her of the blunder, and she suffered months of pain, infection, and inflammation before another dentist removed the fragment. The case settled for $1 million.