Tooth Injury Compensation

A teenage girl, who tripped on a faultily repaired step outside her home, has accepted an offer of a settlement for trip injury from Dublin City Council amounting to £26,650.

A teenage girl who tripped over a faulty step outside her Dublin home has had a broken tooth injury compensation settlement approved in the Circuit Civil Court.

Sarah O´Mahony (18) was walking up the steps to her home in Dublin in October 2002, when she tripped on a faultily repaired step and fell heavily against a higher step, forcing her central incisors to be forced back into her gums.

After years of dental work, the girl – who was just nine years old at the time of her accident – had her original claim for broken tooth injury compensation against Dublin City Council adjourned for further dental reports.

Now however, her claim has been assessed by the Injuries Board in Ireland for 32,300 Euros – a figure which Sarah and the council agree to and, in Dublin´s Circuit Civil Court, Circuit Court President Mr Justice Matthew Deery approved the award – advising Sarah to accept the offer.

A woman, who claimed her dental treatment had been negligent and resulted in years of pain and suffering, has won her claim and been awarded £211,000 in a dentist negligence compensation award.

Esther Hammond (61), made her dental negligence claim against registered dental surgeon Brendan Bastible from whom she had first been treated in May 1991 for a loose crown that had been fitted by another dentist.

Mr Bastible had treated Ms Hammond for the loose crown, filled several cavities in other teeth and treated her for the gum disease periodontitis. However, it was when Mr Bastible applied braces to her upper jaw in November 1991, and bottom jaw in 1993, that Esther’s issues began.

The judge heard that the wires which held the braces together regularly snapped, causing lacerations within Esther’s mouth which resulted in significant pain and affected her day to day life. Esther also said that her dental issues also affected her relationship with her family and led to psychological problems, which still persist today.

Expert witnesses made testimony in court that the fitting of the braces was inappropriate at the time and Esther’s legal representatives advised the judge that Mr Bastible was not qualified to perform orthodontic treatment of this nature. It was also confirmed by a medical expert that it would take around five more years of dental treatment until the physical damage done by Mr Bastible would be a thing of the past.

In delivering his judgement, Mr Justice John Quirke stated that he was satisfied that the treatment Esther was given was indeed negligent and that it fell below the standards required of a practicing dental surgeon. He awarded Esther £140,000 in general damages, £41,000 to take into account future pain and suffering while undergoing remedial treatment and £29,000 to compensate for past and future special damages – a total of £211,000.