Hundred thousand pound dental claims quadruple

In 2015, the DDU settled 11 compensation claims for more than £100,000 on behalf of its dental members. By contrast, in 2006, just two settled claims exceeded that figure.

Over the last ten years, the DDU paid out nearly £5m to compensate patients and pay legal costs in claims that exceeded £100,000. The highest amount paid in compensation to a patient was £120,000 for failure to diagnose and treat periodontal disease leading to tooth loss. In another case about the fitting of crowns, the patient also received in excess of £100,000 compensation. Other cases exceeded £200,000 when the claimant’s legal fees were taken into account.  

John Makin, head of the DDU, said:

“We are seeing disturbing rises in the cost of clinical negligence claims and a surge of claims exceeding a hundred thousand pounds against our dental members. These payments are no reflection on clinical standards, which remain high, but rather a result of a combination of rising patient expectations and the availability of ‘no win no fee’ arrangements for clinical negligence claims.