Condition
Wrong tooth extraction expert reports
Independent opinion on how the wrong tooth came to be removed, and what replacing it will cost across the claimant’s lifetime.
Breach of duty
The standard the dentist is judged against
Extracting the wrong tooth is rarely defensible. The interest for a solicitor is not whether there was a breach but how the safety checks failed, because that shapes both the evidence and, in NHS settings, the disclosure.
National safety standards for invasive procedures require site verification and a pause before the procedure. Where a practice has adopted local standards derived from them, the records should show which tooth was planned, which was checked, and by whom.
Clinical evidence
How the failure happens
Notation error
The treatment plan records one tooth and the referral another.
Conflicting information not resolved
Radiograph, chart and letter disagree, and nobody stops.
No site verification
The tooth to be removed is never confirmed aloud with the patient or the team.
Orthodontic extraction patterns
Symmetrical premolar extractions taken from the wrong quadrant.
The error compounded
The correct tooth then removed at the same visit, so the claimant loses two.
The counterfactual
Causation, and what the claim is worth
Causation is seldom the battleground. The value is. The question is what the claimant has lost across a lifetime: whether the tooth can be re-implanted, whether the space needs an implant or a bridge, how often that restoration will be replaced, and what happens to the adjacent teeth.
A healthy tooth removed from a young claimant is a prosthetic liability for decades. Where a sound tooth is lost and the tooth that should have been removed is then removed as well, the report should value both consequences separately.
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01
Can the lost tooth be re-implanted?
The prognosis of any re-implantation, not an assumption that it survives.
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02
What will the space need?
An implant or a bridge, and how often that restoration will be replaced.
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03
What happens to the adjacent teeth?
The knock-on consequences for the neighbouring dentition.
Discipline-led matching
The expert we match
General practice or oral surgery
On how the wrong tooth came to be removed — the treatment plan, the checks and the site verification.
Restorative dentist or implant experience
On replacing the lost tooth and costing the lifetime replacement cycle. These claims often need both.
Where the instruction crosses those boundaries, we identify the required disciplines before you instruct and provide the proposed CV.
Expert evidence
The report you receive
Why solicitors instruct us
The value sits in the prosthetic schedule.
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01
Value the lifetime replacement cycle
Liability is usually conceded. We match an expert who can cost the lifetime replacement cycle, because that is what the claim is actually worth.
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02
We know the current position on Never Events
Reports that still describe this as a Never Event invite an easy correction from the other side.
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03
Keep one case-management contact
A named case manager coordinates the instruction, the proposed CV and the agreed report scope, and tells you where it stands before you ask.
Frequently asked questions
Assessing a wrong-tooth extraction claim.
Practical questions for solicitors reviewing a wrong-site extraction instruction.
Not since 1 April 2021. It remains a reportable patient safety incident, and it remains actionable.
Re-implantation is sometimes attempted and is not always successful. The report addresses the prognosis of a re-implanted tooth rather than assuming it survives.
The claim concerns the sound tooth that was lost. The report values that separately.
The treatment plan, referral correspondence, radiographs, consent documentation and any incident report.
Discuss an instruction
Have a wrong-tooth extraction claim?
Tell us the clinical issue and a case manager will send a suitable CV and a fixed quote.
Submit an Enquiry for Dental Expert CVs