Our client, a 31 year old woman, went to an Orlando dental clinic complaining of severe tooth pain. The dentist that examined her advised that she needed her wisdom teeth removed and scheduled the appointment for one week later. She arrived for the follow up appointment and was met by a different dentist. She was never told that this dentist was not employed by the dental office but was a contract dentist who would simply come in on certain days to do nothing but tooth extractions. Two wisdom teeth were removed and the patient was discharged with no follow up appointment and with instructions to return if there was any problem. A few days later patient was having severe pain and came back to the dentist office. She was told that the pain was suppose to be expected, that everything was ok and there was nothing to worry about. No x-rays or other studies were done. Approximately 3 weeks later with no improvement she went to an emergency room, an x -ay and MRI were performed which revealed that her jaw was fractured in the area of the extraction. She was then transferred to a second hospital where she underwent oral surgery to repair the fracture. She was ultimately left with nerve damage causing a loss of sensation on most of her lower lip, chin, and lower right side of her face. In addition, she suffered damage to the temporomandibular joints. She has chronic pain, diminished range of motion of her jaw, and must limit what she eats to foods that are soft and non-chewy. The defense denied liability and claimed that the fracture did not occur at the time of the extraction but that it was caused by a late developing bone infection which weakened the jaw bone and lead to the fracture. We presented expert testimony at trial that pre extraction x-rays showed an overly large tooth root that required that the tooth be sectioned or split and removed in pieces. The defendant dentist had instead used a dental lifter, which is essentially a leveraging device, which pulls the tooth out in one piece. This method, especially when there is a large or abnormal root is known to cause fractures. In cross examination of the defense expert at trial who was of the opinion that the fracture was caused by a bone infection we raised the fact that neither an x-ray or the MRI performed in the hospital revealed any bone infection and that none of the several doctors that treated the patient in the hospital, including the oral surgeon that repaired the fracture, diagnosed a bone infection. He conceded that he was the only doctor in the world that believed that our client suffered from a bone infection. The jury rejected the defenses raised and returned a verdict in our clients favor.
