Case type
Dental expert reports for inquests.
Independent dental evidence for inquest proceedings where dental treatment is implicated in a death.
Where the expert fits
When to instruct an inquest expert witness
It does not determine civil liability or criminal blame, and an expert who writes as though it does will be corrected.
Dental evidence arises narrowly. The coroner may need evidence on whether the dental care met the standard expected, where a death followed sedation or anaesthesia for dental treatment, or where spreading dental infection compromised the airway. The report is written for the coroner’s questions rather than for a civil claim, and states plainly where the dental evidence ends.
Where we are instructed
Instructed by legal professional nationwide
We are instructed by solicitors representing the family where dental treatment preceded the death, and by solicitors representing a dental practice or practitioner whose care is being examined. Where a civil claim may follow, the inquest evidence is scoped with that in mind.
The report is written for the coroner’s questions. A later civil claim needs a report scoped to breach and causation, and we scope the two separately rather than repurpose one for the other.
The expert we match
The discipline of the practitioner whose care is in issue.
Matched to the care in issue
A registrant of the same discipline as the practitioner whose care the coroner is examining.
Where dentistry stops
Deaths involving sedation or anaesthesia need medical expert evidence, which is outside our dental panel, and we say so.
The report you receive
Common Inquest Reports
Why solicitors instruct us
Evidence written for the coroner, not for a claim.
We write for the forum
An inquest report that reads like a liability report is unhelpful to the coroner and damaging to the family.
We tell you where dentistry stops
Deaths involving sedation or anaesthesia need medical evidence we do not supply, and we identify that at the outset.
A named case manager
One point of contact coordinates the instruction from first enquiry through to delivery of the report.
FAQs
Commonly asked questions
No. It determines who the deceased was, and how, when and where they died. It does not determine civil or criminal liability.
The coroner or the police, rather than an instructing solicitor.
The report is written for the coroner. A civil claim needs a report scoped to breach and causation, so we scope them separately.
No. Our panel is dental. Where a death involves sedation or anaesthesia, medical evidence is needed and we will say so.
Scotland has no inquest. A sudden or unexplained death is investigated by the Procurator Fiscal, and a Fatal Accident Inquiry may follow. An instruction there is scoped to that procedure.
Discuss an instruction
Have an inquest instruction?
Tell us the circumstances and the questions your evidence must address. A case manager will provide suitable expert CVs and a fixed quote.
Submit an Enquiry for Expert CVs