Suing orthodontist more than 5 years after treatment

[littlemisscomper]

I think I already know the answer to this, but is it possible? I suffered though 11 years of orthodntic treatment from 13 - 24, before I finally got my dentist to refer me to another. The new one took X rays and said my tooth roots are permanently shortened from being messed about with so much, so they're less secure and more likely to fall out. I was told that orthodontic treatment should never take more than 2 years, and no more than a total of 8 HOURS in the chair - I was in for 3 hours at a time sometimes!! The new orthodontist offered to take over my treatment but it would have meant at least another year to put right the damage and a tooth extraction. I just couldn't face it so had him remove the remaining braces and left it at that. My dentist has only just finished removing the remaining composite 5 years on. I've shelled out £1,500 to my regular dentist over the past 2 years while he's twitched at my teeth to make them more presentable, and that's why my sister just suggested suing my orthodontist to try and recoup a little of the £8000 I spent in 'treatment. I've Googled but from what I can tell it has to be within 3 years of finishing with them
Has anyone had any success with trying it on after this time period? I'm so, so unhappy. It's affected my confidence so much, never mind the family funds.

When did you become aware of the damage? As far as I know it's 3 years from the date of the injury, or three years from the date you realised that you had been injured.

If you've been seeing a new ortho for 2 years then how long is it since you actually realised the original treatment hadn't worked?

Just having treatment not working might not be grounds to sue - every medical procedure has associated risks. You'd need to prove negligence.

See a specialist lawyer.

Thanks for the quick reply! It's been 5 years since I was referred to the new orthodontist. Literally only went back to him 2 or 3 times as I knew I wasn't continuing treatment. So 5 years since I learned about the tooth roots. I also had no idea it shouldn't have been more than 8 hours/2 years. All the time my original guy was testing about I thought that was normal. Well, until I got to about 21 anyway, and then he kept promising me, session after session, that 'we're nearly done now!' So I didn't feel able to leave.

I'm not a lawyer, I know though that there have been cases of more than 3 years.

Are you sure though that the ortho was negligent? Having treatment which doesn't have the desired effect or doesn't work isn't negligence.

Also wouldn't' get hung up on the 8 hours thing, I have a DS having orthodontics at the moment, each appointment is about 20 or 30 minutes, we see him each 6 weeks, some appointments are longer. He's been going for over two years too. Everyone's different.

I don't believe he was negligent in an uncaring way, just utterly incompetant. Surely no matter how bad your teeth are they shouldn't take 11 YEARS to get right (or not even nearly get right, as the case may be!) His failure to get my teeth aligned meant they ground each other down into odd shapes (what my dentist is attempting to sort for me now). My average time at each visit was 1.5 hours too, so extremely tiring. I'm frustrated with myself for not taking action earlier. I naively thought any compensation would have to come out of his own pocket, whereas my sister pointed out it would be through insurance. Thanks for your advice. I will ring around 'no win no fee' lawyers tomorrow and see if anyone can help, but I don't hold out much hope. Good luck to your son, I do hope he doesn't have to go through it much longer.

Do you think that he might have been using his position to keep you visiting him unnecessarily for financial gain or some kind of power trip/wanting to be close to you? I don’t know if that affects the legal situation, but the length of your appointments and the number of years it continued sounds like possibly more than incompetence.

@PolkerrisBeach is right regarding the time frame. I believe (though I'm not a legal bod) that there's a phrase called "point of knowledge" I.e the three year limit to submit a claim can start from the point of knowledge day. But it would seem you're over that limit as you've been with the new orthodontist for five years and, presumably it was at the beginning of your new treatment that you discovered the possible negligence.

No AuntyElle, not at all. He was just geriatric and hopeless at his job. In fact for several years towards the end he was doing it for free because my mum flat out refused to pay more than she already had.

StopPop, that's what all the claims websites seem to say. I'm not with the new orthodontist though. I was only with him for a few weeks, 5 years ago, when he took my fitted braces off and kept an eye while my teeth 'settled' and then I jacked the whole thing in because I was so overly sick of it all, leaving me with a crooked overbite, a lisp I hadn't had before and no confidence.

Ah, OK, littlemisscomper. I hope you get somewhere. I had bad orthodontistry too and it has caused so many problems, so you have my sympathy.
Have you contacted their professional registration body?