'Overzealous' dentists lead to increasing dental health claims in NSW

Personal injury lawyer firm Slater and Gordon has noted a concerning surge in dental claims across NSW in the past two years due to 'overzealous' dentists.

Kate Williams, senior Slater and Gordon medical negligence lawyer, said she believed the increasing dental health claims are being driven by a push within dental practices to keep patients, including by conducting unnecessary procedures, and not referring patients to specialists to retain profit.

“We are regularly seeing people who have suffered from avoidable errors made by dentists, many of whom are overworked and have pressure to perform a certain number of procedures by their employers,” Williams said. “This is an increasing problem, which can leave patients with significant health consequences following complications of some dental work.”

Williams said some of the complaints she had seen include dentists:

• removing wisdom teeth unnecessarily and causing nerve damage;
• removing wisdom teeth instead of referring patients to an oral surgeon due to complexity;
• conducting cosmetic dental work without appropriate preparation, causing gum disease;
• not recognising jaw dislocations during extractions with patients suffering joint dysfunction; and
• recognising jaw dislocations after extractions but not providing specialist treatment or referral.

Williams said that while not all dentists were responsible for these types of errors, people who are concerned about a procedure should seek a second opinion.

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