Dental Malpractice In New York: Three Common Dental Mistakes To Know

No one likes to go to the dentist.  It usually hurts.  It’s uncomfortable.  No one really likes someone poking around in their mouth.  This is why medical mistakes caused by the dentist can result in very serious pain and suffering for a patient and be very serious instances of medical malpractice.  There are three common types of dental malpractice that everyone should know about, which include the following:

Botched Root Canal – everyone’s worst nightmare is a root canal.  Even if we have not had one already, we hear how horrible these things are and how they hurt so much.  And they are indeed painful.  But everyone’s real worst nightmare should be a BOTCHED root canal.  This could mean another root canal or other procedures to fix the damage.  It could mean extra treatment and care.  There could be infections or other damage done.  Damage to teeth are permanent and do not regrow.  A root canal is an example of a very invasive procedure which can result in horrible injuries.

Improper Wisdom Tooth Extractions – a wisdom tooth extraction sounds routine, right?  Yes, usually.  But the bottom ones are usually right on the lingual nerve.  If this nerve gets damaged during the extraction, it can result in serious and permanent pain and suffering including permanent loss of sensation in the mouth and tongue, permanent pins and needles, and even atrophy of muscle or tissue in the face.  Even worse, there are news stories of people actually DYING during wisdom tooth extractions when the dentist does not properly monitor the patient who is anesthetized.  Not so routine any more, huh?!

Failure to Diagnose Periodontal Disease – periodontal disease, or perio for short, is a disease of the mouth wherein the gums and tissue slowly recede from the teeth.  This exposes dentin of the teeth and the nerves, causing pain.  The longer this continues, the worse the perio will be and the more the gums and tissue will recede.  This means that even bone could become exposed, and bone could slowly wither away.  Teeth will lose their anchors in the gums and bone, those causing bone loss.  Infections will become rampant.  It can really result in the death of a patient very quickly actually.