Dental Malpractice Attorney Near You
A Houston dental malpractice lawyer helps patients who were hurt by a dentist’s mistake. If a dental visit in Houston left you with nerve damage, a lingering infection, mouth numbness, or the wrong tooth pulled, you may have a legal claim. Callender Bowlin, PLLC is a Houston trial firm that represents injured people in serious health care claims across Texas. Call (713) 300-8700 for a free, private case review.
What Counts as Dental Malpractice in Texas
Dental malpractice happens when a dentist harms a patient by falling below the accepted standard of care. In plain terms, it means a dentist did something, or failed to do something, that a careful, well-trained dentist would not have, and you got hurt because of it. A bad result on its own is not malpractice. Teeth are unpredictable, and even good dentists have complications. What makes a case is the combination: the care fell short of what a reasonable dentist would do, and that failure is the reason you were injured.
That distinction matters more than people expect. Plenty of unhappy patients don’t have a claim, and plenty of patients with a real claim assume they just had bad luck. If you’re not sure which side of the line you’re on, that’s exactly what a free case review is for. Call our Houston office at (713) 300-8700 or send a message through our secure online form.
Why Choose Callender Bowlin?
Dealing with the consequences of a botched dental procedure can be very painful and financially draining. However, you do not have to do it alone.
While there are plenty of law firms you can choose from to help with your legal needs, there are also several reasons why Callender Bowlin is the right choice:
Ready to Get Help? Let’s talk.
Dental Nerve Injuries: Trigeminal, Lingual, and Inferior Alveolar Nerve Damage
Some of the most serious dental malpractice cases we see involve a dental nerve injury. The nerves that give feeling to your lower face all branch off the trigeminal nerve, and two of its branches sit directly in the path of common dental work. When one of them is stretched, crushed, or cut, the result can be numbness, tingling, burning pain, or a loss of taste that lasts for months or never fully goes away.
The two branches most at risk during dental treatment are:
- Inferior alveolar nerve (IAN): Runs through the lower jaw and supplies feeling to the lower teeth, lip, and chin. It’s the nerve most often injured during lower wisdom tooth extractions and dental implant placement, where a drill or implant fixture is set too close to the nerve canal. Patients describe waking up with a numb lower lip or chin that never came back, which can make eating, speaking, and even smiling feel foreign.
- Lingual nerve: Sits close by and controls sensation and taste on the side of the tongue. It’s vulnerable during lower wisdom tooth removal and other work near the back of the mouth. An injured lingual nerve can leave the tongue numb, alter or kill the sense of taste, and make chewing without biting yourself surprisingly hard.
Because so much implant work happens in the lower jaw, planning is everything. A dentist who skips the imaging needed to map where the IAN actually sits, or who ignores what the scan shows, is the kind of mistake that turns a routine dental implant into a permanent injury.
Not every case of mouth numbness after dental work is malpractice. Some numbness is a known, temporary side effect that fades as the anesthetic wears off or the tissue heals. The question is whether the injury came from care that fell below the standard, a nerve damaged because the procedure was done carelessly, planned poorly, or attempted without the imaging and consent it required. If your numbness has lasted well beyond the expected recovery window, that’s worth having reviewed.
Texas Law Treats Dental Malpractice as a Health Care Liability Claim
Is a dental malpractice case the same as medical malpractice in Texas? Yes. Texas law treats dental malpractice as a “health care liability claim” under Chapter 74 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. That is the same law that covers doctors and hospitals, and dentists count as health care providers under it. This matters because Chapter 74 adds strict rules that a normal injury case never touches: a required expert report, limits on certain damages, and a firm deadline to file. Those rules are why these cases need a lawyer who knows the process from day one.
Botched Root Canals, Failed Extractions, and Anesthesia Errors Cause Most Claims
What are the most common types of dental malpractice? The most common dental malpractice claims in Houston come from botched root canals, failed or wrong-tooth extractions, and anesthesia errors. Nerve injuries during extractions and dental implant placement are a frequent cause too, along with untreated infections and a missed diagnosis of oral cancer.
Some of the most frequent dental malpractice examples in Houston include:
- Anesthesia mishaps: Errors administering or monitoring anesthesia that lead to serious harm.
- Delayed specialist referrals: Failing to send a patient to a specialist in time, letting a treatable problem get worse.
- Extraction errors: Improper tooth removal that causes nerve damage or infection.
- Poor complication management: Neglecting post-procedure issues, especially untreated infection.
- Informed consent failures: Never properly explaining the procedure, its risks, and the alternatives before treatment.
- Missed diagnoses: Failing to catch oral disease or TMJ disorders and delaying necessary treatment.
- Supervision lapses: Leaving a hygienist or assistant to do work without proper oversight.
Any one of these can turn routine dental work into a lasting injury.
Dental Negligence Causes Nerve Damage, Infections, and Tooth Loss
What injuries come from dental malpractice? Dental malpractice can cause lasting nerve damage, serious infections, and the loss of healthy teeth. Some injuries heal with time. Others are permanent, like the numbness in the lip, tongue, or chin that follows a damaged inferior alveolar or lingual nerve. Beyond nerve injury, common harms include spreading infections caught too late, jaw and TMJ problems, anesthesia complications, and the fallout from an oral cancer a dentist should have flagged. The through-line in most of these is time: a small failure that could have been fixed early instead becomes something you live with.
A Dental Malpractice Claim Must Prove Duty, Breach, Causation, and Harm
What do you have to prove to win a dental malpractice case? Four things:
- Duty: The dentist owed you a duty of care, which starts the moment you become their patient.
- Breach: The dentist broke that duty by falling below what a careful dentist would have done.
- Causation: That mistake, and not something else, actually caused your injury.
- Harm: You suffered real harm, such as added treatment, lasting pain, mouth numbness that won’t resolve, or lost income.
Missing any one of the four sinks the case, which is why the investigation on the front end matters so much.
Texas Requires a Chapter 74 Expert Report in Every Dental Malpractice Case
Do you need an expert to sue a dentist in Texas? Yes. Within 120 days after the dentist files an answer in court, you must serve a written report from a qualified expert, usually another dentist, who explains how the standard of care was broken and how that caused your injury. Miss the deadline or serve a report the court finds too weak, and the judge can dismiss your case and order you to pay the dentist’s legal costs. This rule is one of the biggest reasons these cases need an experienced lawyer early, before the clock starts.
Types of Damages and Compensation From A Dental Malpractice Lawsuit
In Texas, victims of dental malpractice may be eligible for several types of compensation, and understanding them helps you gauge what a case is realistically worth.
Economic damages cover your quantifiable financial losses:
- Medical expenses for corrective treatment
- Lost wages during recovery
- Future medical costs for ongoing care
- Loss of earning capacity if the injury affects your ability to work
Non-economic damages address the losses that don’t come with a receipt:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Disfigurement or scarring
In rare cases involving gross negligence, punitive damages may also be awarded.
Texas Caps Non-Economic Damages in Dental Malpractice Cases
How much is a dental malpractice case worth in Texas? The value depends on your losses, because Texas caps only some kinds of damages. Economic damages, like medical bills, future care, and lost wages, are not capped and can be recovered in full. Non-economic damages, like pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life, are capped at $250,000 against the dentist and any other providers combined. If a hospital or dental facility also shares fault, more may be available, up to $500,000 total for institutions. In cases where a patient dies, a separate cap covers nearly all damages; it began at $500,000 back in 1977, but it adjusts for inflation every year and now tops $2 million.
The Statute of Limitations Gives Texas Patients Two Years to File
How long do you have to sue a dentist in Texas? In most cases, two years from the date of the malpractice. This is a strict deadline. Wait too long and you can lose the right to sue no matter how strong your case is. A few narrow exceptions exist, and Texas also sets an outer limit of ten years. Because two years passes fast, and you still need time to line up an expert report, it’s smart to talk to a lawyer as soon as you suspect a problem.
Injured Dental Patients Should Save Records and See Another Provider
What should you do after dental malpractice in Houston? A few steps protect both your health and your claim:
- See another provider right away. Get checked by a different dentist or doctor, especially if you have numbness, spreading pain, or signs of infection.
- Save everything. Keep your dental records, treatment plans, bills, and any texts or emails from the dental office.
- Document the injury. Take clear photos of anything visible.
- Don’t sign anything yet. Have a lawyer review any release or refund form from the office before you sign.
- Report the dentist. You can file a complaint with the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners.
Then call a Houston dental malpractice lawyer to review your case.
Callender Bowlin Represents Injured Patients Against Negligent Dentists
Why choose Callender Bowlin for a Houston dental malpractice case? Callender Bowlin, PLLC is a Houston-based trial firm that represents injured people in serious health care and injury claims across Texas. We work on a contingency fee, so you pay nothing up front and owe no fee unless we recover money for you. We know the Chapter 74 rules that decide these cases, the 120-day expert report, the damage caps, and the two-year deadline, and we work with qualified dental and medical experts to build each claim, including the nerve-injury cases that turn on precise anatomy and imaging. We prepare every case as if it will go to trial, because that is what gets results.
Demystifying The Legal Maze That Are Dental Malpractice Cases
In any dental malpractice lawsuit in Houston, there are several elements that you will need to prove:
The dentist had a duty of care: This means the dentist had an obligation to provide you with treatment. When you become a patient, the duty of care is created.
The dentist breached the duty: The dentist’s conduct is compared with what a reasonably competent, similarly trained professional would have done under the circumstances. Both acts and omissions are considered when determining if the dentist breached his duty of care.
The breach was the direct cause of harm: You must have been hurt as a direct and foreseeable result of the dentist’s failure to offer an appropriate level of care.
You should be compensated for the harm you experienced: You were damaged in a way that entitles you to compensation for the resulting losses.
Contact a Houston Dental Malpractice Lawyer for a Free Case Review
Ready to talk to a Houston dental malpractice lawyer? Call Callender Bowlin, PLLC for a free, private case review. If a dentist’s mistake left you with nerve damage, mouth numbness, or another lasting injury, we will listen to your story and explain your options. There is no cost to talk, and no fee unless we win. Call (713) 300-8700 or send a message through our secure online form.
Callender Bowlin LLP
4299 San Felipe St # 300
Houston, TX 77027
713-300-8700
