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Dental Abscess Claims – How Much Compensation Can I Claim?

By Lewis Cobain. Last Updated 8th October 2024. Welcome to our dental abscess claims guide where we’ll explain how you can get the dental abscess compensation you deserve.

Dental issues can be very unpleasant, and abscesses fall into this category. If you look at tooth abscess pictures online, you will see that this condition is characterised by pus typically situated around a damaged or decayed tooth.

If you believe that your dentist is to blame for you suffering from a tooth abscess or that they have made the condition get worse because they did not notice until one of the later tooth abscess stages, you may be entitled to compensation. This is known as dental negligence. After all, all dentists have a duty of care to make sure they spot any dental issues at the earliest potential stage. When a dentist fails in this duty, and a patient is injured or suffers an illness as a consequence, this is when claiming for a tooth abscess becomes an option.

Here at Legal Expert, we have helped many people to get the compensation they deserve for cases like this. If you would like to make a claim, you can call us on 0800 073 8804. But before you do this, please make sure you read on to find out everything you need to know about these types of dental claims. You can also send us a message about your claim online.

A dentist checking a patient's teeth.

Select A Section

  1. What Is A Dental Abscess?
  2. Who Could Make Dental Abscess Compensation Claims
  3. Dental Abscess Symptoms
  4. Dental Negligence Claims – Evidence Examples
  5. Dental Compensation Claims – How Long Do I Have?
  6. What Dental Negligence Compensation Could I Receive?
  7. No Win No Fee Dental Abscess Compensation Claims
  8. Speak To Legal Expert Today
  9. Learn More About Claiming Compensation

What Is A Dental Abscess?

A dental or tooth abscess occurs when the tissues surrounding the tooth become infected. The infected area will have a build-up of pus, which is how you can notice an abscess. This condition typically happens when bacteria has entered the tooth because of decay or damage. While most abscesses are not suffered due to dental negligence, there are cases whereby your dentist may be to blame.

This is because all patients are owed a duty of care from their dentists whereby your dentist should spot any issues at the earliest opportunity. Long-term health issues can be avoided if a dental abscess is spotted and treated quickly and efficiently. However, if your dentist has overlooked the condition, it could get a lot worse. This could mean permanent jaw, mouth, and teeth problems.

Here at Legal Expert, we have many years of experience when it comes to dental abscess claims and we can help you to get the dental abscess compensation you deserve. However, please do keep in mind that there is a personal injury claims time limit of three years, so the sooner you get in touch and make a claim, the better.

Who Could Make Dental Abscess Compensation Claims

All dentists owe their patients a duty of care. This duty is to meet the minimum accepted standard of care when treating patients or providing advice. If they fall below this standard, then a claim for dental negligence can potentially be brought.

For dental abscess compensation claims to be successful, you must prove that this duty of care has been breached. You must also prove that the breach caused avoidable harm.

Here are some examples that would likely be a breach of duty by a dentist or their staff:

  • The dentist does not listen to your symptoms properly and dismisses them as a straightforward toothache. This causes pain and complications.
  • Whilst treating you for a dental abscess, and dentist is not paying attention and injures you during the procedure.
  • You are given the wrong medication to treat your infection. This causes significant side effects as well as prolonging the pain of your abscess.

There are many other ways a dentist could breach their duty to you. To discuss any aspect of dental abscess compensation, please reach out to our team.

Dental Abscess Symptoms

In the early stages, there may not be any tooth abscess symptoms. However, as the abscess gets worse and worse, symptoms usually start to present themselves. This includes the following:

  • Swelling of the jaw
  • Swollen glands in the neck
  • Visible draining of pus into the mouth
  • Swollen or red gums
  • Pain while chewing
  • Bitter taste in the mouth
  • Severe toothache – most people describe it as a shooting or throbbing pain

Once the nerves and the tooth pulp have become damaged, this may cause the toothache to stop. This often leads patients to assume that they are better and so they do not go to the dentist. However, even without pain the infection can continue to cause irreparable damage to the tissue and the bone structure of your jaw, so please make sure you go to the dentist.

Dental Negligence Claims – Evidence Examples

After suffering harm from dentist negligence, the claims process can include gathering evidence. This can help prove that medical negligence has occurred.

Below we have include some examples of evidence to support your claim:

  • Medical records, such as reports from your dentist, statements detailing any treatment you have undergone and the diagnosis you received.
  • Evidence of any financial losses, for example, your wage slips can help to show that you have suffered a loss of earnings from needing time off work to recover from the harm you sustained.

For free legal advice on obtaining evidence to support your dental negligence claim, speak to our advisors whenever is convenient for you. Our services are available 24/7.

Dental Compensation Claims – How Long Do I Have?

The Limitation Act 1980 states that you generally have 3 years from the date of your injury in which to start a claim. However, there are a few scenarios where exceptions can be made.

We have included some exceptions below:

  • Date of knowledge – Your injury may not be immediately detectable. If not, you may be able to use the date you became aware of your injuries as the start of your 3-year time limit.
  • Claims involving children – For those under the age of 18, the time limit does not begin until they reach adulthood. They cannot make a claim for themselves before this date. Before then, a litigation friend can be appointed to do so for them.
  • Those whose mental capacity is reduced – As with children, the time limit may not start from the date of injury. Instead, it only begins if and when the injured individual is deemed capable of making their own claim. A litigation friend can claim on their behalf before this time.

We understand that the time limits surrounding dental compensation claims can seem confusing. If you have any questions about claiming compensation for dental negligence or about dental negligence payouts in the UK, get in touch with our advisors today.

What Dental Negligence Compensation Could I Receive?

Compensation for successful dental abscess compensation claims could consist of two heads of loss.

The fist is known as general damages, and it compensates you for the unnecessary harm you have suffered due a dentist breaching their duty of care.

Those calculating your claim for general damages may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), as this document lists compensation guidelines for various forms of harm.

We have included some of these figures in the list below, aside from the first entry.

  • Multiple Serious Injuries, including loss of earnings and other financial losses, could receive Up to £250,000 plus
  • Very severe facial scarring that is cosmetically disfiguring could receive between £36,340 to £118,790
  • Less severe facial scarring that causes a substantial disfigurement could receive between £21,920 to £50,090
  • Significant facial scarring that is visible at a conversational distance could receive between £11,120 to £36,720
  • Less significant facial scarring that can be hidden or camouflaged could receive between £4,820 to £16,770
  • Damage to teeth that caused significant chronic tooth pain could receive Up to £46,540
  • Damage to teeth involving the loss or serious damage to several front teeth could receive £10,660 to £13,930
  • Damage to teeth involving the loss or serious damage to two front teeth could receive £5,310 to £9,310
  • Damage to teeth involving the loss of or serious damage to one front tooth could receive £2,690 to £4,820
  • Damage to teeth involving the loss or damage to back teeth, per tooth could receive £1,330 to £2,080

The second head of loss you could receive is known as special damages. This compensates you for the financial losses the dental negligence has caused you. For example, you may be able to claim for:

  • Your lost earnings if you needed time off work.
  • Additional dental treatments.
  • Medication and pain relief.

To see whether you could be eligible to claim compensation, you can contact our advisors.

No Win No Fee Dental Abscess Compensation Claims

When it comes to making dental abscess claims, there are many benefits associated with working with Legal Expert. One of these is the fact that we work on a No Win No Fee basis. What does this mean for you? Well, you only pay legal fees if your case is successful, and there are numerous benefits to gain by going down this route. This includes the following:

  • Financial risk is minimised – If you were to use the services of a personal injury solicitor who did not work to this payment agreement, there is always the possibility that you could end up investing an enormous sum of money in terms of legal fees, only to discover that the lawyer has not managed to secure your dental abscess compensation. Is this a risk you can really afford to take?
  • No huge upfront payment – When using the services of No Win, No Fee lawyers, you do not need to pay a large upfront payment in order to start the claim process.
  • Better quality service – The very nature of a No Win, No Fee payment agreement ensures you benefit from a much better service. This is because the solicitor is going to be impacted by the outcome of your case and, therefore, you can rest assured that he or she will be doing all in their power to make sure it is a success.
  • No time wasting – A No Win, No Fee personal injury lawyer has nothing to gain by simply taking on your case for the sake of it. If they don’t feel your case is strong enough, they will tell you; they won’t waste your time. However, if you were to use the services of another solicitor, there is always the risk that they could be taking on your case just to take your money.

Speak To Legal Expert Today

If you are ready to make a claim for the dental abscess you have experienced, all you need to do is give the personal injury claims team a call at Legal Expert. We have many years of experience in dental abscess claims and we can help you to get the dental abscess compensation that you deserve.

The number you need is 0800 073 8804, and this is open seven days per week from 9.00 a.m. until 9.00 p.m., enabling you to call at a time of day that is convenient for you. There are also plenty of other ways to get in touch too. Just head to our contact page for this information.

A solicitor explaining dental abscess compensation claims with their clients

Learn More About Claiming Compensation

Hopefully, you have found this dental abscess claims guide useful on your quest to discover further information about making a dental abscess compensation claim. However, if you are looking for some more details, you may find the links and resources below useful.

  • Dentist negligence – This link takes you to our guide on dental negligence claims. You will find out everything you need to know about these claims and how negligence occurs.
  • NHS’s Dental Abscess Page– This link takes you to the NHS website where you will find information on dental abscesses, including what they are, how to treat them, prevention, and much more.

Other Helpful Guides

Thanks for reading our dental abscess claims guide about how you can get the dental abscess compensation you deserve.