Teeth are precious things – and can be shockingly expensive things to maintain, too. If you are one of the vast majority of dental patients in the UK forced to rely on private dental care, you’ll be all too familiar with the costs associated with root canals, extraction or other longer-term procedures, not to mention all-too-eager to avoid them.
Unfortunately, life is not a hugely predictable endeavour, and sometimes it can come at you quite fast indeed; indeed, it can come at your teeth with significant speed and force, in the form of a trip or fall in a public place. There are many different ways you can suffer a dental injury in public, but thankfully there’s a fairly simple way to handle things in the event of such an injury. So: what should you do if you are unfortunate enough to have a tooth-related injury in public?
- Immediate Actions After the Injury
Naturally, the first step you should be taking after sustaining a dental injury in public is the seeking of prompt medical attention – or, at the very least, ascertaining whether you should be hot-footing it to a doctor or dentist in especially short order. If you have the capacity, you should also take the opportunity to document your accident and its cause, particularly if there are slip hazards or other such obstructions to blame. Further, getting some eyewitness accounts and details can make your life a great deal easier a little further down the line.
- Understanding Your Legal Rights
This is because the dental injury you suffered may not have been anywhere near ‘your fault’. With public injuries like this, there’s a high likelihood that someone else was responsible for the safety of your environment, whether a private business operating in the space or the city council overseeing its maintenance. As such, you may be able to get compensation from the business you deem responsible via a civil claim.
- Collecting Evidence for Your Claim
In order to follow the civil claims process, you’ll need to engage personal injury solicitors – who will first need to review your case to see if you have any grounds for compensation in the first place. Evidence is key here, not just for the engagement of legal representation but also for the strength of your letter before action (which is where most civil claims are satisfied, well before official legal proceedings).
This is also where your prior post-injury actions come into play, as pictures of the scene and eyewitness accounts can be powerful evidentiary tools for backing up your story.
- Navigating the Compensation Process
As touched on earlier, the solicitor’s first action will be a ‘letter before action’, sent to the organisation deemed responsible for your dental injury. It will also outline the costs you’ve incurred to rectify your dental injury, from dental fees to loss of earnings and even emotional distress. The letter will seek to settle things early with a compensatory payment; if the other party agrees, your civil claim ends here and with a big compensation win! It is unlikely that you’ll go to court, particularly if all the evidence is in your favour – but if you do, your solicitor will be fighting your corner.