This dental malpractice case study involves a patient (the plaintiff) who, at twelve years-old, began seeing a new general dentist (the defendant) due to a recent cross-country move. The patient saw the dentist approximately twice per year over the course of the next five years for regular dental checkups and cleanings.
 
When the patient was nearly sixteen years-old, the dentist noticed a suspicious area by tooth 21 while reviewing routine dental x-rays. Assuming the swelling in the jaw area was due to an infection, the dentist prescribed a course of antibiotics. However, it was not until eighteen months and several visits later, after the suspicious area had continued to grow to the point of discomfort, that the dentist ordered a biopsy. At that time, the patient was diagnosed with a benign, non-metastatic ameloblastoma that had grown deep into his jawbone.
 
The patient’s parents would later file a dental malpractice lawsuit against the dentist. The plaintiff claimed that due to the defendant’s negligent delay in ordering a biopsy, the patient required extensive surgery in which the anterior lower portion of his jaw was removed and replaced by bone taken from his leg. The plaintiff also had to undergo the removal of a significant number of teeth, which had to be replaced with dental implants. The plaintiff is now permanently scarred in his jaw and neck.
 
Given that expert witnesses could not support the dentist’s decision to delay ordering a biopsy until many months after first discovering the suspicious area, the defense decided to pursue a settlement rather than risk taking the case to trial. The case wound up settling for more than $1,000,000. 
 
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