Case types
Clinical negligence and personal injury matters accepted across England and Wales.
My instructions come principally from claimant and defendant solicitors, medico-legal agencies, and insurers. The majority are clinical negligence matters, with a smaller but regular volume of personal injury cases involving dental trauma. I accept instructions across England and Wales and am willing to travel for examination of the claimant where required.
The following sets out the case types in which I have experience and regularly accept instructions. If your case falls outside these categories, an initial enquiry is the quickest way to establish whether I can assist.
Clinical negligence
Periodontal disease
Delayed diagnosis and mismanagement of periodontal disease is one of the most common areas of dental negligence litigation. Cases typically turn on whether a reasonable GDP should have identified signs of periodontal disease at an earlier stage, whether appropriate investigations — including pocket charting and radiographic assessment — were carried out, whether referral to a specialist was indicated, and what difference earlier intervention would have made to the outcome. I prepare breach of duty and causation opinions in periodontal cases at all stages of progression, including cases involving early tooth loss and those where the patient had underlying risk factors such as smoking or systemic disease.
Dental implants
Implant-related claims arise in a number of distinct ways: inadequate pre-operative assessment and planning, failure to identify contraindications, nerve damage during placement (including inferior alveolar nerve and lingual nerve injuries), implant failure due to poor positioning or inadequate bone, and failure to obtain informed consent for the procedure and its risks. I am experienced in reviewing pre-operative radiographic planning, surgical records and postoperative management in implant cases.
Tooth extractions
Extraction cases cover a wide range of issues: removal of the wrong tooth, retained root fragments, post-operative complications including dry socket and infection, nerve damage, oro-antral communications, and fracture of adjacent teeth or restorations. Cases frequently involve questions about whether extraction was indicated in the first place, whether the pre-operative assessment was adequate, and whether appropriate warnings were given about the risks of the procedure.
Root canal treatment
Endodontic cases commonly involve file separation and instrument fracture, perforation, missed canals, and failure to identify or appropriately manage symptomatic teeth before, during or after treatment. Cases also arise from failure to refer to an endodontic specialist in cases of complexity, and from post-treatment failure where the standard of the original treatment is in question.
Orthodontic treatment
Orthodontic negligence cases typically involve delayed or missed referral, inadequate treatment planning, failure to assess the periodontal condition before commencing tooth movement, root resorption, and relapse following treatment. I prepare opinions on the standard of care in cases involving both fixed and removable appliances, and on the adequacy of consent for orthodontic treatment particularly where adverse outcomes were foreseeable.
Crowns, bridges and restorative work
Restorative negligence cases involve preparation errors resulting in pulpal damage or devitalisation, inadequate assessment of the restorability of teeth before treatment is undertaken, failure to identify and treat underlying disease before proceeding with crowns or bridgework, and cases where the treatment planning decision itself is in question. I also see cases involving failed bridgework where the question is whether the abutment teeth were suitable and the design appropriate.
Consent
Consent issues arise across all treatment categories. Following Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board, patients must be informed of material risks — those a reasonable patient in their position would consider significant. I prepare opinions on whether adequate information about risks and alternatives was provided, and on what a reasonable patient should have been told in the circumstances of the particular case.
Failure to refer and delayed diagnosis
Cases in this category involve failure to refer to a specialist, failure to recognise signs requiring onward referral (including soft tissue changes, suspected malignancy, and complex restorative or surgical presentations), and delayed diagnosis where earlier identification would have materially improved the outcome. These cases often require careful analysis of what was visible in the clinical records at each relevant appointment.
NHS treatment disputes
A proportion of clinical negligence instructions involve NHS treatment, where the FP17 claim forms and the scope of the NHS contract are relevant to the assessment of what was provided and whether it met the required standard. I am familiar with the NHS dental contractual framework and its relevance to the standard of care assessment in general practice.
Personal injury
Dental trauma
Personal injury instructions typically arise following road traffic accidents, trips and falls, assaults, and workplace accidents. The dental issues most commonly encountered include tooth fractures, luxation and avulsion injuries, alveolar bone fractures, soft tissue injuries, and temporomandibular joint dysfunction. I prepare condition and prognosis reports setting out the nature and extent of the dental injuries sustained, the treatment required, the prognosis for affected teeth, and the likely long-term dental consequences of the trauma.
Condition and prognosis reports
Condition and prognosis reports are required in personal injury cases where dental injuries form part of the overall claim. These may be instructed on a single joint expert basis or as a party expert report. I prepare these reports following examination of the claimant where required, and from records alone where the dental picture is sufficiently clear from the documentation available.