London named in top three best regions for dental care

London has been named as one of the top three best regions in England for dental care, fairing considerably better than the North West and South East.

Dentists in London received just 63 negligence claims since 2018, according to a study by the Dental Law Partnership.

Dental negligence is when an avoidable injury is caused by a dentist or any case where a dentist has performed poorly, negligently or inappropriately, which results in avoidable harm being caused to a patient.

The North West region had the highest number of claims, with a grand total of 325 negligence claims settled against dentists over the past three years.

The North East area had the least number of successful claims, with only 42 over a three-year period- making it the best place to receive dental care in the UK.

Over 1,170 dental negligence claims were settled by the Dental Law Partnership since 2018, with compensation ranging from £1,000 up to £125,000, suggesting dental care in the UK may not be up to scratch.

Some of the most common types of dental negligence claims included misdiagnoses, failure on the dentist’s behalf to obtain patient consent and understanding of procedure before carrying it out, and injuries or trauma to the teeth, gums, jaw or face.

Chris Dean, Director at the Dental Law Partnership, said: “It is difficult to pinpoint exactly why patients are more likely to make a claim against their dentist in certain regions.

“One reason could be that there are more individual dentists consistently providing poor treatment in these areas.

“We handle a significant number of claims in every region of the UK and would urge anybody who thinks they may have been a victim of substandard dental work to look into it further.”