Teeth Damage Claims – How Much Can I Claim?

By Jo Greenwood. Last Updated 29th June 2023. In this guide on teeth damage claims, you will find a full and detailed guide containing advice and information on the process of making a claim covering general injuries, injuries at work and clinical negligence. If your teeth have been damaged, and the cause was the responsibility of a third party, then you may have grounds to start a personal injury claim.

If you would like to speak to an advisor to ask questions about claiming damaged teeth compensation, then you can call Legal Expert on 0800 073 8804. As an alternative to calling us, you can also use our 24/7 live chat feature. Additionally, you can also see if you can claim online by filling out the form on our website.

Select a Section:

• 1. What Counts As A Dental Accident?
  2. What Are Teeth Injuries And Teeth Damage?
  3. Tooth Damage Caused By Medical Negligence
  4. Road Traffic Accidents Leading To The Loss Of Teeth
  5. Tooth Knocked Out At Work
  6. Teeth Damaged By A Slip, Trip Or A Fall
  7. Making A Claim For Dental Compensation
  8. Time Limits For Teeth Damage Claims
  9. Compensation For Loss Of Teeth – Example Payouts
  10. No Win No Fee Teeth Injury Compensation Claims

What Counts As A Dental Accident?

A dental accident involves damage to the mouth, such as the teeth, gums, tongue, nerves and jaw.

Teeth damage claims guide

In order to make a valid claim for damaged teeth or other dental harm, you must be able to demonstrate that someone acted negligently.

Someone might have acted negligently if they:

• Owed you a duty of care
• Breached the duty of care they owed you
• Caused you physical or psychological harm

There are various circumstances where you may have been owed a duty of care, including at work, on the road, in public or when receiving medical treatment.

For more information on what counts as a dental accident and whether you’re eligible to claim for the harm you sustained, call our team.

What Are Teeth Injuries And Teeth Damage?

Both the NHS and private practice dentists may deal with cases of injured teeth many times a year. Teeth injuries and damage could include:

• Cracked or broken tooth
• Chipped tooth
• Loss of one or more teeth
• Nerve damage in the mouth

According to the NHS Dental Statistics for England 2020-21, Biannual Report:

• 19.7 million adults were seen by an NHS dentist
• 3.6 million children were seen by an NHS dentist
• 2.8 million courses of treatment were delivered

Although these statistics don’t provide information on the nature of the visits or treatment, it gives an insight into the frequency with which people visit the dentist.

Tooth Damage Caused By Medical Negligence

Every medical professional has a duty of care to ensure their patients receive the correct level of care to prevent them from experiencing avoidable harm. When they fail in this duty, and it leads to an avoidable teeth injury or additional harm, then this may be grounds for teeth damage claims to be made following dental negligence.

In these cases, the answer to the question, “how much compensation for dental negligence?” depends on how severe your injury is.

There are various ways a dentist could have acted negligently. For instance, a dentist may have extracted the wrong tooth. As a result, you may have experienced additional harm as well as still suffering from the original injury.

When attempting to claim compensation for medical negligence against both a private healthcare facility or the NHS, you will need to back up your claim with an expert medical opinion of your injury and also the long-term prognosis for your recovery.

You could hire a solicitor to help with this as they could arrange for you to receive a free local medical examination.

For more information on whether you can sue your dentist for cracking your tooth, we could help. Get in touch with us using the number at the bottom of the guide to learn more. An advisor could also provide further guidance on how to claim teeth damage compensation.

Road Traffic Accidents Leading To The Loss Of Teeth

Road traffic accidents could cause people to make teeth damage claims.

The blunt trauma caused by even a low-speed car accident is sufficient to break one or more teeth. Additionally, some road users such as motorcyclists and cyclists are far more likely to make contact with the hard road surface. Even a low-speed crash where the victim hits the road or pavement with their face is sufficient to cause a very bad face, tooth and jaw damage.

If you suffered tooth damage from a car accident, then Legal Expert can assist you in claiming teeth damage compensation. Get in touch with us using the number at the bottom of the guide to be put in touch with a personal injury lawyer and begin your claim.

Tooth Knocked Out At Work

If you suffered a tooth knocked out at work, then you may well be able to claim some form of mouth injury compensation. Your employer must uphold the duty of care they owe you under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. If they fail to do so and you were caused harm, you could make teeth damage claims.

Part of these regulations pertains to maintaining a safe and healthy working environment for their staff at all times. When Health & Safety protocols fail, which directly leads to an employee being injured in a workplace accident, then a valid route to claiming teeth damage compensation could exist.

If you suffered injured teeth during an accident at work, Legal Expert could assist you in claiming for it. Get in touch with us using the number at the bottom of the guide to learn how to make a teeth damage compensation claim. Alternatively, our advisors could provide additional information on settlements for broken teeth.

Teeth Damaged By A Slip, Trip Or A Fall

Slips, trips and falls are amongst the most common type of accidents in the UK. These accidents can result in tooth damage and lead to people making teeth damage claims. Accidents happen in many ways, such as:

Damaged Teeth Claims

• Falling – down a flight of stairs due to issues such as bad or damaged lighting, improperly mounted handrails, etc.
• Slipping – on a wet or dirty floor that should have been cleaned and where no hazard sign has been placed warning people about the dangerous floor surface.
• Tripping – on badly laid or damaged floor coverings such as torn carpets, as well as faulty or damaged pavements outside, such as cracked paving slaps or incorrectly laid curbstones.

If you suffered tooth damage due to a slip, trip or fall, then call Legal Expert using the number at the bottom of the guide. If your injury was the result of someone else’s negligence, you could have a valid claim. Get in touch to start your claim for damaged teeth compensation today.

Making A Claim For Dental Compensation

As stated above, in order to have a valid claim, you must be able to prove that you were owed a duty of care and your suffering was directly caused by a breach of this. In this section we examine evidence that you could submit when making a claim for compensation.

Examples of potentially useful evidence in dental compensation claims includes:

• X-rays. These can show the damage to your teeth.
• Dental records. These may detail any treatment you had.
• Witness contact details. For example, if an accident caused your teeth damage, anyone who saw what happened could be contacted at a later date.
• These could be of the accident scene, or, if possible, of the damage to your teeth.
• This could be CCTV footage, mobile phone or dashcam videos.

If you need help gathering evidence, call our advisors for free legal advice. There are various factors that affect dental compensation amounts. However, our advisors are here to help. Additionally, if they think your claim has a chance of success, they could pass you to our No Win No Fee solicitors.

Time Limits For Teeth Damage Claims

If you are making a claim for damaged teeth caused by someone’s negligence, you’ll need to make sure you start your claim within the correct time limit. The Limitation Act 1980 states that you will have 3 years to start your claim from the date you suffered your injury.

However, if you suffered nerve damage in your teeth due to medical negligence, the three-year time limit might also begin from the date of knowledge. This is the date you first reasonably became aware that your injury was caused by medical negligence.

There are certain circumstances in which the time limit might be suspended. For example:

• A minor will have 3 years to start their claim from their 18th birthday. Before this point, the time limit is suspended.
• A claimant who lacks the mental capacity to start their own claim. In this case, the time limit is permanently suspended unless they regain the mental capacity to make a claim for themself.

In both instances, a court-appointed litigation friend could make a claim on behalf of a minor or someone who lacks the mental capacity to make their own claim. A litigation friend could be a parent, solicitor or sibling.

Get in touch with an advisor today to see whether you still have enough time to start your claim. Additionally, they could answer any questions you may have about claims being made for smashed teeth.

Compensation For Loss Of Teeth – Example Payouts

As explained above, the severity of your injury will influence how much you could be awarded in general damages in a successful damaged teeth claim.

To illustrate this, we have created a table of potential general damages payouts for damaged teeth and associated mouth injuries using the information listed in the Judicial College Guidelines. This publication includes figures calculated from past court cases to help legal professionals value claims.

This is not a like-for-like reflection of what you will be awarded in your claim and as explained above, is not necessarily the full amount of compensation in your loss of teeth claim – the figures in our table are merely to help give you an idea of injury valuations.

Teeth Broken In An Accident – Can I Claim Special Damages?

If you make a successful personal injury claim, your compensation settlement for a broken tooth could also include special damages. This head of claim compensates you for the monetary losses you have suffered due to having your teeth broken in an accident.

Some examples of the financial expenses and losses you could be compensated for under special damages include:

• Loss of earnings- if your broken tooth injury has caused you to take time off work, you could be compensated for your lost earnings.
• Travel costs- you may have incurred travel costs associated with your injuries, such as travel to dental appointments.
• Medical expenses- if you have had to pay for over-the-counter pain relief or prescriptions.

You will need to provide evidence of these losses in order to claim them back under special damages. Evidence could include bank statements, receipts and payslips, for example.

To learn more about making a personal injury claim for compensation for loss of teeth, you can contact our advisors. They will be able to provide further guidance specific to your case.

No Win No Fee Teeth Injury Compensation Claims

All of our specialist solicitors will pursue 100% of their personal injury claims on a No Win No Fee basis. This means that you will only be obligated to pay a success fee in the event that your case is successful, and you are awarded the compensation you deserve. The fee is taken in the form of a small, legally-capped percentage from your payout.

In the event your personal injury claim is unsuccessful, you will not need to pay your solicitor the success fee. Many see this method of pursuing a claim as very favourable when the alternative is to still be responsible for covering legal bills even in the event of an unsuccessful claim.

Get in touch today to get more advice on No Win No Fee claims for teeth damage. To reach us:

• You can call Legal Expert today on 0800 073 8804
• You can also use our online contact form
• Or you can message us on our 24/7 live chat service

Thank you for reading our guide on teeth damage claims and teeth damage compensation.