At San Diego Personal Injury Attorneys we have been working on personal injury cases including car accidents for many years. Unfortunately, in our many years of experience we have seen serious dental injuries in car accidents – trauma to the face or teeth is common in falls, or as a result of playing sports, but it’s most common in car accidents. Serious injuries to the face happen in a car accident when the head has a whiplash effect during a collision. As it is typical of less evident injuries, such as neck strain, dental injuries might be temporarily ignored, while the more serious injuries are treated. Even more, people might not be even aware that they had a chipped or cracked tooth after the accident.
To make matters worse, many dental insurance plans might consider the dental damage a cosmetic procedure that would not be covered by insurance.
It is important from both the standpoint of receiving good medical care and for documenting the dental injuries to get your mouth and jaw looked at as soon as possible after an accident. It is also important to mention the dental injuries to your doctor when you are seen. You should also make a visit to your dentist as soon as possible. Treatment will not only help you receive the medical care you need but will also prevent the insurance company from refusing to pay the dental injury claiming that the injury was not as a result of the accident. Many people we know do not have dental insurance and they feel that a visit to the dentist will be costly. However, the victim must consider that no visit and diagnosis at all can be worse in the long run, as the costs associated with dental injuries can accumulate. In many dental cases, the treatment not only requires a fix of the medical problem that is causing pain, but also a potential cosmetic procedure to restore the condition of the teeth prior to the accident.
Once you visit the dentist, make sure you mention the circumstances of the accident, with as much detail as you can remember.
Dental procedures are costly. If you do not have the money to pay upfront for a dentist visit, it is possible that the personal injury attorney you hire can put you in touch with dentists that could treat you and wait for payment until the resolution or settlement of your case.
Another important factor to consider after a dental injury resulting from a car accident is that the lasting problems caused by the original injury might only show up after several months. More often a person can be hopeful that the pain or discomfort caused by the injury will go away, yet after many months they find that the pain still persists. If this is your case, you might still have the opportunity to seek financial compensation to cover for the medical expenses associated with your treatment, even if the injury was some time ago. A statute of limitations is the deadline for filing a lawsuit. Most lawsuits MUST be filed within a certain amount of time. In general, once the statute of limitations on a case “runs out,” the legal claim is not valid any longer.
In every state, the period of time during which you can file a lawsuit varies. In addition, the period of time is also dependent on the type of legal claim. If your dental injury occurred as a result of the negligence of others, you have a personal injury case. In California, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of the injury. However, if the injury was not discovered right away, then it is one year from the date the injury was discovered.
In conclusion, if you were involved in a car accident as a result of the negligence of others, and suffered dental injuries you may be entitled to compensation.
At our law firm in San Diego, we have many years of experience dealing with car accident injuries, including dental injuries. Call us for a free consultation.