Some people have anxiety every time they schedule their next dentist appointment, but for the most part, dental visits are safe, and patients receive the care they need from a competent dental team. However, some people experience severe injuries in a dentist’s office that can leave them with debilitating pain and other dysfunctions. They have the right to pursue financial compensation for their injuries with help from an experienced malpractice attorney.

When you leave a dental office with worse problems than you had before, a negligent dentist or dental assistant might be to blame. John Fisher, a Hudson Valley dental malpractice lawyer, is dedicated to protecting patients’ rights. He could investigate your injury to learn whether you have grounds to bring a lawsuit.

Understanding Malpractice in Dental Offices

Just like doctors, dentists or dental assistants occasionally make mistakes. However, people who provide dental care and work in a dental office should act according to an established standard of care. They provide treatment to their patients on the same level other dental professionals with a similar background, education, and training. Dental patients have the right to expect safe, competent, and gentle care from their dentists. When a healthcare worker fails to follow the best and most reasonable practices for dental patient care and a patient sustains an injury, malpractice can occur.

When a patient suspects their dental provider made a mistake that caused them to experience physical, emotional, or financial harm, they should consult a dental malpractice lawyer in Hudson Valley who could look into the matter.

What Constitutes Dental Malpractice in Hudson Valley?

A wide variety of actions in dental offices can amount to malpractice, including the following:

  • Extraction of the wrong tooth
  • Failed crowns, veneers, or root canals
  • Failure to diagnose a medical condition, such as oral cancer
  • Surgery errors leading to prolonged pain, numbness, loss of taste
  • Failure to diagnose or treat a recognizable dental condition, such as periodontal disease

Many different symptoms can point to dental malpractice, including intense physical pain, symptoms that interfere with a patient’s ability to function, and the inability to eat or talk. Emotional trauma can affect their personal and professional relationships. Patients often need to visit other dental offices for extensive, costly revision surgeries and procedures. While they recover from their procedures and injuries, they might need to miss work, which can result in extensive financial burdens. A skilled attorney in Hudson Valley could help them get the financial compensation they need by filing a dental malpractice lawsuit.

Injured dental patients could file claims against the provider who acted negligently, who could be a dentist, orthodontist, office worker, dental assistant, or oral surgeon. When a dental assistant causes a patient’s injury, the patient could sue the dentist if the dentist fails to properly supervise their staff.

An attorney could investigate who made the mistake and who bears legal responsibility.

Call a Hudson Valley Dental Malpractice Attorney

While most people do not consider a trip to the dentist to be a fun experience, it should not result in severe or prolonged pain or lasting damage. When a dentist or dental office does something that results in harm to you, they should be liable.

Call Hudson Valley dental malpractice lawyer John Fisher today to discuss the first steps in your legal recovery.