Broken Jaw Bone Compensation Calculator
By Daniel Archer. Last Updated 6th April 2023. Have you sustained a broken jaw injury in an accident that was not your fault, or because you were assaulted? Did you break your jaw bone but it was not treated effectively because of medical negligence? In this guide, we take a look at some of the reasons you might wish to claim for broken jaw bone compensation.
Explained in the sections below are details about the types of injury you could have sustained, the treatment options you could have and how to check your eligibility to make a jaw fracture claim. In addition to this, you will find details of our service.
If you would like to speak to an advisor about broken jaw claims, you can do so right away by calling 0800 073 8804. Alternatively, you can reach us online using our contact section or our 24/7 live chat service.
Select A Section
- A Guide To Broken Jaw Bone Compensation Claims
- What Is A Broken Jaw Bone Injury?
- Symptoms Of A Broken Jaw Bone
- Causes Of Broken Jaw Bone Injuries
- How Broken Jaw Bones Are Treated?
- Broken Jaw Compensation For Medical Negligence – Misdiagnosis Claim
- Broken Jaw Bones Caused By Assaults And Criminal Injuries
- Road Traffic Accidents Causing Broken Jaw Bones
- Slips, Trips And Falls Causing Broken Jaw Injuries
- Top Tips For Proving A Broken Jaw Claim
- Compensation For A Broken Jaw
- Special Damages Claimable For Broken Or Fractured Jaw Bones
- No Win No Fee Broken Jaw Compensation Claims
- Why Choose Our Team For A Broken Jaw Compensation Claim?
- Begin Your Broken Jaw Compensation Claim
- Essential References
A Guide To Broken Jaw Bone Compensation Claims
Broken jaw bone compensation claims guide
Have you sustained a broken jaw in an assault, or were you injured in an accident that was not your fault and have suffered a jaw bone fracture? If so, you might be looking to claim for compensation for your injuries. This guide offers some insight into making claims for a broken jaw bone. Included below is information relating to the diagnosis and treatment of such injuries, as well as information regarding the types of incidents that could lead to a claim.
The specific types of incidents that we’ll look at that can lead to jaw injury compensation claims include assaults and other criminal injuries. We’ll also look at how road traffic accidents, slips, trips and falls can lead to a broken jaw bone and a personal injury compensation case. We will also examine how broken jaw injuries can be caused or aggravated by medical misdiagnosis.
You will also find some insight into what compensation you could claim for an injury such as this, for the suffering, pain and loss of amenity caused by your injuries, and the financial harm that has been caused by your injury. Also included below are details of how Legal Expert could help you make a broken jaw compensation claim, and how you could get a lawyer to help fight your case for you without having to pay for their services until your compensation settlement has been paid out.
What Is A Broken Jaw Bone Injury?
A broken jaw injury is an injury that occurs to the jaw that causes one or more of the bones in the jaw to be broken or fractured. The jaw is made up of two bones that make up the frame of the mouth, which extend from behind your ear to your chin. They include an upper jaw, which is fixed, called the maxilla, and the moveable bottom jaw, which is called the mandible, which is connected to the skull at the temporomandibular joints. The jawbones’ primary function is to move in opposition to each other to allow the chewing and biting of food. They also allow the movement of the mouth that helps you to form sounds.
This means that any damage to the jaw bone could have a significant impact on your ability to eat or speak properly. In addition to this, if a broken jaw does not heal in a natural position, this could cause disfigurement of the face. Not only could this cause physical harm, but it could affect your confidence in the way you look.
Symptoms Of A Broken Jaw Bone
Symptoms of a broken jaw bone injury could include:
- Bleeding, swelling and severe pain on injury
- Limited movement in the jaw area
- Bruising in the jaw area or the gums
- Numbness in the gums or the jaw area
- Facial shape abnormalities (lumps, for example)
- Loosened teeth
- Tenderness or pain when chewing/speaking
Causes Of Broken Jaw Bone Injuries
The main causes of broken jaw injuries could include blunt force trauma caused by:
- An assault
- A road traffic accident
- A fall
- A sports-related incident
In order to make a personal injury claim for one of these broken jaw causes, you would have to prove that a liable party’s negligence or dangerous behaviour had caused you to suffer harm. A personal injury lawyer could help you to do so.
However, there could be other ways in which this injury could be sustained. For example, you could suffer a broken jaw after wisdom tooth removal if too much pressure is put on the jaw by the person performing the extraction. If this is the case, and you could prove the dentist was negligent, you could receive broken jaw bone compensation for clinical negligence.
How Broken Jaw Bones Are Treated?
Fractured jaw treatment would depend on the extent and positioning of the fracture. Your doctors would determine the extent of the injury via a physical examination and taking pictures of the injury where appropriate, via X-ray. Not all jaw fractures require surgical treatment. Some may be treated with hooks being affixed to the teeth. Others may involve screws being placed in the jaw via local anaesthetic.
Surgical options for broken jaw NHS treatment, according to this publication by Torbay and South Devon NHS, could include:
Metal plates – Treatment with small metal plates could be appropriate in some cases. This would involve cutting the gums and exposing the fractured bones in order to screw the plates in. This would firmly hold the bones together and is a process known as open reduction and internal fixation. After the plates had been screwed in, the gums would be stitched back together with dissolvable stitches.
Sometimes it might be too difficult for the surgeon to screw plates into the back of the mouth. This may mean you would need to have incisions in your cheeks to get access to the parts of the jaw that the screws need to be put
Jaw wiring – You may, if the injury is near to the jaw joint, require treatment that involves wiring the jaw together. This is usually done with the use of metal bars, which will be attached to the teeth in both the top and bottom jaw. These will be affixed to the teeth with wires, and then elastic bands or wires will attach the jaws together. Wires are usually removed around 6 weeks post-surgery.
Broken Jaw Compensation For Medical Negligence – Misdiagnosis Claim
If a misdiagnosis of a jaw injury hinders the recovery from a broken jaw then you could be entitled to compensation for medical negligence. However, medical negligence law differs from personal injury law. Due to this, the act of establishing negligence is slightly different.
Not all acts of misdiagnosis by a medical professional necessarily equate to medical negligence. You need to be able to prove that the care you received fell below the duty of care owed to you. For example, if you had clear broken jaw symptoms but the injury was not investigated, then this could be an example of medical negligence.
To find out more about medical or clinical negligence claims, get in touch with our advisors today.
Broken Jaw Bones Caused By Assaults And Criminal Injuries
If you were assaulted in a criminal act and you suffered a broken jaw, it may be possible for your to make a broken jaw assault claim. Criminal injuries are usually claimed for through the CICA – which is the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. Your lawyer could submit a claim to the CICA for an assault that you’d suffered within two years of the assault. This is different from the usual personal injury claims time limit of 3 years. The incident must have been reported to the police.
Time limits for claiming
The standard 3 year time limit for starting a non-criminal personal injury claim is applied by law under the Limitation Act 1980. The time limit starts from the day your injury occurred or could be diagnosed.
The time limit can be put on hold under certain circumstances. If, for instance, a child suffers a broken jaw injury, then the time limit for claiming does not start for them until the day of their 18th birthday. A child cannot start a personal injury claim on their own. However, a claim could be started on the child’s behalf before they reach the age of 18 by a representative known as a litigation friend. This representative could be someone close to the child, such as a parent.
If the victim of a broken jaw injury lacks the mental capacity to make decisions on their own behalf, then the time limit for claiming is also frozen in this circumstance. Again, a litigation friend could potentially claim on the victim’s behalf. If the victim later regains sufficient mental capacity to start their own claim, then the 3 year time limit for claiming starts from the day this occurs.
Road Traffic Accidents Causing Broken Jaw Bones
Whether you were injured as a passenger, a driver, a pedestrian or another road user, if a road traffic accident that wasn’t your fault caused you to suffer a broken jaw bone, you could claim compensation for your injuries.
Whether you were hit head-on at a junction by another driver who failed to stop at the lights, were knocked over by a speeding driver at a pedestrian crossing, were hit from behind in a rear-end shunt or suffered your injuries in another type of road accident, if another road user could be held liable for the accident, you could consider making a claim for broken jaw bone compensation.
Slips, Trips And Falls Causing Broken Jaw Injuries
If you suffer a broken jaw injury due to a slip, trip or fall, you may be wondering whether you could claim compensation for your injuries. Depending on the reasons for your slip, trip, or fall, you may be able to claim compensation for:
A workplace accident – If your employer had failed to look after your health and safety at work, and their negligence caused you to suffer a trip, slip or fall, you could claim broken jaw compensation for an accident in the workplace. Your employer is legally obligated to provide you with a safe working environment and to reduce the risks of you suffering an injury in the workplace. If they fail in this responsibility, they could be held liable for injuries suffered as a result.
A public place accident – If you have slipped, tripped or fallen and suffered a broken jaw in a public place, you would have to prove that the person/entity responsible for your safety while in that place had been negligent in ensuring the place you were in was safe for you to be in. For example, a slip or fall in a supermarket due to a spillage on the floor that had not been cleaned up could lead to an injury claim, as could a trip or fall in a public park due to unsafe railings.
These are just a few examples of the types of slip, trip or falls that could lead you to claim broken jaw compensation. If you suffered a trip, slip or fall in another place, and are wondering whether you could make a claim and whom you could claim against, please do not hesitate to call us for a free assessment of your case.
Top Tips For Proving A Broken Jaw Claim
If you are making a claim for a fractured jaw, then you need to be able to prove that the injury was someone else’s fault. As such, you will need to gather evidence to prove that you were injured as a result of negligence. Negligence is when:
- Someone owes you a duty of care
- They do not uphold that duty of care
- You are injured as a result
In this section, we take you through some key pieces of evidence that can be used to establish negligence. However, the list below is not exhaustive and there may be other forms of evidence that you could use. So, if you want to know more about what you could submit to help support your claim, get in touch with our advisors today.
Examples include:
Medical records – Some people may wonder “what does a broken jaw look like?” In other words, it’s possible that they’re unsure whether or not their jaw is broken. Seeking medical attention is advised if you suspect you have an injury. It’s important you know the severity of your injury and how it may continue to affect you in the future. You can present medical records as evidence which can be used to help when valuing how much your injuries are worth.
Visual evidence – This can include a variety of formats. Photographs of any visible injury are a useful piece of evidence to have. Additionally, you could even take pictures of the scene where your injury was sustained, including the possible cause of the accident.
Witness statements – If you choose to hire legal assistance, then our solicitors can help you gather the contact details of anyone who may have seen how you were injured. The witnesses could then submit a written statement to support your version of events.
If you’ve broken your jaw, our compensation calculator can give you estimate of how much you could be owed. Alternatively, get in touch with our advisors today for a personalised estimation.
Compensation For A Broken Jaw
Compensation for a broken jaw claim could include both general and special damages. General damages compensate you for the pain and suffering that your injury as has caused you. You will need to provide medical evidence about your injury in order to successfully claim general damages. A copy of your medical records stating that you have a broken jaw and the surgery you may have required to treat it could be used as evidence in your claim.
Using the figures listed in the 16th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), we have created the following table. This is to help you gain a clearer idea of how much you could receive in general damages for your injury. We have used the JCG’s figures as it lists compensation brackets for various injuries at different severities. The figures are also based on past successful claims. Many legal professionals, such as solicitors, will use the JCG to help them value claims.
We cannot provide you with the average settlement for a broken jaw. This is because compensation is awarded on a case-by-case basis and could be affected by the various factors of your claim. Therefore, you should only use this table as a guide.
| Injury Type | Notes | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Facial Disfigurement – Very severe facial scarring | Where claimants are relatively young (teenagers to those in their early 30s) where the effects are severely disfiguring, and there is a severe psychological reaction. | £29,780 to £97,330
|
| Facial Disfigurement – Less severe facial scarring | Substantial disfigurement with a significant reaction, psychologically. | £17,960 to £48,420 |
| Facial Disfigurement – Significant scarring | The most severe effects would be or have been reduced via plastic surgery, but there would still be some disability, cosmetically. | £9,110 to £30,090 |
| Psychiatric Damage Generally – Moderately Severe | The person will significantly suffer to cope with daily life among other issues. However, they will have an optimistic prognosis. | £19,070 to £54,830 |
| Psychiatric Damage Generally – Moderate | The person will have made significant improvements despite suffering from various issues. | £5,860 to £19,070 |
| Fracture of the jaws (i) | Where there are very serious fractures (multiple) that require treatment over a prolonged period. Permanent consequences could include severe levels of pain, eating restrictions, risk of arthritis and paraesthesia. | £30,490 to £45,540 |
| Fracture of the jaws (ii) | Where there is a serious fracture that results in permanent symptoms such as difficulty with opening the mouth, eating or paraesthesia in the injured party’s jaw area. | £17,960 to £30,490 |
| Jaw bone fracture (iii) | Simple fractures where there is some immobilisation required but where a complete recovery is expected/has occurred. | £6,460 to £8,730 |
| Skeletal Injuries | Le Fort Fractures of the frontal facial bones. | £23,810 to £36,740 |
| Skeletal Injuries | Multiple facial none fractures that leave to some facial deformity. | £14,900 to £23,950 |
Contact our advisors today to discuss your personal injury claim. If our advisors believe that you may be eligible for compensation, they could connect you with our solicitors, who could help you with your claim.
Special Damages Claimable For Broken Or Fractured Jaw Bones
While the section above covered general damages, which are meant to compensate you for the suffering, pain and loss of amenity caused by your injuries, you could also have special damages included within your claim. These would relate to financial expenses caused by your injuries. They could include, but are not limited to:
Care costs – Some injuries could leave you unable to complete usual daily activities such as washing/dressing etc. If you have needed help with these activities, you may have incurred care costs, which could be included as part of your claim.
Travel costs – Whether you have incurred travel costs for hospital appointments, lawyer’s appointments or any other reason directly related to your injuries, you could include travel costs within your claim.
Medical costs – Some medical costs that could be covered by special damages could include prescription costs, counselling costs or costs for physiotherapy, for example.
Wage loss – In some cases, you may have had to take time off work while you recovered from your injuries. If this is the case, depending on your employer’s sick pay scheme, you may have lost out on some of your income. If this is the case, income losses could form part of your broken jaw injury claim. If your injuries prevent you from returning to work, future losses in income could also be included.
It is critical that you keep proof of any financial costs relating to your injuries so that you can evidence them within your claim. Receipts, bank statements, bills and payslips could all provide crucial evidence when claiming for special damages. It would be a good idea to keep these in a safe place so that you could provide these documents to your lawyer when appropriate to do so. If you have no evidence of these costs/losses, they could not be included as part of your jaw fracture claim.
No Win No Fee Broken Jaw Compensation Claims
There are many benefits of using a personal injury/medical negligence lawyer to help you with your broken jaw bone compensation claim. Not only could your lawyer help build a strong case for compensation on your behalf, but they could also give you advice on any settlement offer received, to see if it could be appropriate for you to take the offer or continue to fight for more compensation. If you are worried that you would have to pay upfront for these services, you could be glad to hear that if your lawyer takes your claim on a No Win No Fee basis, you would not have to pay anything until such time as your compensation was paid out.
No Win No Fee claims do not require any upfront payment to get started. Nor would you be expected to pay your personal injury solicitor throughout the duration of your claim. Instead, at the beginning of your claim, you would sign a document known as a Conditional Fee Agreement. This document would promise your lawyer, upon successful completion of your claim, a small percentage of your compensation. This is legally capped so you would not have to fear that all your compensation would be taken up in legal fees. Once your compensation payout was settled, your lawyer’s success fee would be deducted, and you would benefit from the rest. If your lawyer didn’t get you any compensation, you would not be required to settle the success fee.
If you have further questions about making a claim on a No Win No Fee basis, please don’t hesitate to call the team on 0800 073 8804. Or you can contact us online using our contact form or our live chat service.
Why Choose Our Team For A Broken Jaw Compensation Claim?
Here at Legal Expert, we could offer advice and support for those who are considering making a personal injury claim. With years of experience in helping claimants begin their journey to get the compensation they deserve, we are on hand to answer all of your questions and help you get the assistance you need to build the strongest case possible for compensation. We could offer free advice tailored to your specific situation and could also assess your eligibility to claim compensation for your injuries. If we think your case is a valid one, we could even offer to connect you with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors to get your claim started for you.
We pride ourselves on our service and have received many word-of-mouth recommendations from previous clients which we believe is a testament to our commitment to offering claimants just what they are looking for when it comes to making such personal injury claims. Our solicitors strive to ensure you receive the maximum compensation possible for your claim and will guide you through the process of making a claim, explaining any legal terms so you remain fully informed throughout. If you have any questions about the service we provide or our lawyers, please do not hesitate to ask – we will be glad to help.
Begin Your Broken Jaw Compensation Claim
Are you now ready to begin a broken jaw bone compensation claim, or would you like further details on the claims process or your eligibility to make a claim? Whatever you need, we’re here to help, and you can reach us in a variety of ways. You could simply call the helpline on 0800 073 8804 to speak directly to one of our knowledgeable advisors, or you could email the team on info@legalexpert.co.uk. Alternatively, if you prefer, you could use the live chat feature or contact form to get in touch. With free advice and support only a call or click away, why not get in touch today?
Essential References
Upper Jaw Fracture – This is a NHS resource on broken jaws, covering upper jaw fractures to be more exact. This offers details of what treatment you may need for your injury.
Broken Jaw Case Study – Here, you can find a broken jaw case study which led to £150,000 in compensation for this type of injury.
Broken Bone Claims – Our general guide to broken bone claims may be of interest to you if you’ve broken a bone in your jaw.
Car Accident Claims – If you’ve suffered a broken jaw due to a car accident, this guide may be of interest.
Get help claiming for an eyelash extension allergic reaction with our guide.
Get information on bicycle helmet law in the UK and find out if you can claim for your injuries with our guide.
If you would like to ask questions to an advisor about broken jaw bone compensation, then please contact Legal Expert today using the contact details featured in this page.
