If you believe that a dentist’s actions or inactions have caused you physical harm, connect with a reputable dental malpractice lawyer Santa Monica, CA dental patients trust. In doing so, you’ll be empowered to ask questions, voice concerns, tell your story, and receive personalized legal guidance. Once the knowledgeable dental malpractice attorneys at Cohen Injury Firm have thoroughly and objectively assess your circumstances, we’ll help you make informed decisions about pursuing legal action against those who have caused you harm.

Suffering an injury at the hands of a medical professional can leave victims feeling uniquely vulnerable. After all, they have entrusted their health and well-being to practitioners who, instead of “doing no harm,” have actively caused harm. If your dentist or another oral health practitioner has caused you injury, please know that you don’t have to weather this challenging situation alone. Our team is here to help and to pursue the maximum amount of compensation that you’re owed under the circumstances.

What Is Dental Malpractice?

Dental malpractice occurs when a dentist – or another oral health medical professional, such as an orthodontist – provides a patient with substandard care and the patient suffers injury or illness as a result of that substandard care. Just as physicians can be held liable for medical malpractice in the event that they provide care that is sub-par when compared to the care that a reasonably competent physician would provide under the same circumstances, so can dentists be held similarly accountable.

Who Can File a Dental Malpractice Lawsuit?

It can be difficult to know for sure whether an injury victim does or does not have strong grounds upon which to file a dental malpractice case until their circumstances have been thoroughly investigated by an attorney who practices this area of law. When you meet with an experienced Santa Monica, CA dental malpractice lawyer at Cohen Injury Firm, our team will evaluate your circumstances and advise you as to whether you would benefit from pursuing legal action at this time.

Chances are good that you would be awarded damages in a lawsuit if you were an established patient of your dentist, they provided you with substandard care, and you were injured or made ill as a direct result of that substandard care.

Common Kinds of Dental Malpractice

The mouth is a delicate environment. One misstep related to oral healthcare and a patient can suffer significant consequences. Some of the most common dental malpractice case types that our firm handles include:

• Delayed diagnosis

• Failure to diagnose a medical issue

• Surgical errors

• • Wrong-site surgery – usually concerning the opposite side of the mouth from where the problem area is in actuality

• Nerve damage

• Anesthesia errors

• • Fractured jaw or teeth due to negligent care

• Unnecessary extraction of teeth or extraction of the wrong teeth

• Development of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders

• Damage to the jaw, teeth, chin, lips, or tongue

• • Negligently completed dental work – such as incomplete fillings or ill-placed crowns

• Medication errors

• Allergic reactions that would have been avoidable had the dentist properly taken the patient’s history into account
• Wrongful death resulting from substandard dental care

Note that if a defective or dangerous dental implant or device has caused your harm, you may be in a position to sue the manufacturer of the equipment in question. Similarly, if your harm resulted from a prescription that was improperly dosed or filled, you may be in a position to sue a negligent pharmacist or pharmacy.

If you don’t notice complications from dental treatment until weeks or months after it has been completed, that shouldn’t bar you from seeking recovery.

Do I Need a Lawyer to File a Dental Malpractice Lawsuit?

Holding a medical professional accountable for wrongdoing is rarely a straightforward process. Most of the time, malpractice claims are complex and those who have been named as defendants can take advantage of significant legal resources when attempting to refute the accusations that have been filed. While there are times during which you can successfully navigate a straightforward legal matter on your own – such as submitting a legal name change or arguing against a minor parking ticket – trying to hold a dentist responsible for malpractice is not one of those times.

Working with an experienced Santa Monica, CA dental malpractice lawyer at Cohen Injury Firm can offer you the following benefits:

• A lower-stress process: Your lawyer can handle the legal “heavy lifting” so that you can focus your energy on recovering from your injuries.
• Experienced approaches: If your attorney has handled a number of dental malpractice cases in the past, you’ll benefit from the knowledge that they acquired along the way.
• Streamlined filing: Attorneys understand what paperwork needs to get filed, where it needs to get filed, and when it needs to get filed – as one incomplete, inaccurate, or missing form could break your case, this isn’t an insignificant benefit of working with an attorney.
• Knowledgeable negotiating skills – Lawyers train for years to learn how to advocate effectively on behalf of their clients. If you want the maximum amount of compensation you’re owed, allow an attorney to do what they do best and do just that for your benefit.

Seek Personalized Legal Guidance Today to Learn More

If you either know or believe that you may have been the victim of dental malpractice, connect with the experienced legal team at Cohen Injury Firm today to explore your legal rights and options. Depending upon the nature of your injuries and how they have impacted your life and well-being, you may be entitled to a significant amount of compensation at this time.

You don’t need to know for sure that you have strong grounds upon which to file legal action before scheduling a risk-free consultation with our knowledgeable legal team. Allow us to objectively evaluate your situation and provide you with personalized legal guidance so that you can make whatever informed decision is best for you at this time. Call or connect with our Santa Monica, CA dental malpractice lawyer team today to learn more about our approach to representation. We look forward to speaking with you.