Can I Sue for a Slip and Fall Causing Dental Injury?

Your teeth and the bones in your face are more fragile than most people realize, and fall-related accidents are the leading cause of damage to these areas. The most common dental injuries from a slip and fall incident include:

• Tooth fracture: Also known as a chipped or cracked tooth, a fracture happens when there is a splitting of the tooth due to a forceful impact. A dentist can repair a minor fracture with a filling, but serious fractures require more extensive and costly procedures.
• Tooth avulsion: A dental injury that occurs when the tooth is completely dislodged from the socket. This is considered a medical emergency as you can lose the tooth if it is not reinserted within 30 minutes to an hour. Please go the ER immediately if you have a tooth that has completely displaced from its socket due to a slip and fall.
• Tooth luxation: damage to the bones and ligaments that hold the tooth in place. Minor cases may not require treatment, but serious injuries are typically treated with a repositioning of the tooth or a root canal, which must be performed as soon as possible.
• Broken jaw: This is actually a facial fracture as opposed to a tooth injury, but it falls within the category of dental injury caused by a slip and fall. A broken jaw is a dental emergency, especially if the victim has a swollen tongue or trouble breathing. Even if the condition is not life-threatening, immediate treatment is needed to prevent permanent misalignment of the teeth.

Medical treatments for injuries to the teeth, mouth, and jaw after a slip and fall depend on various factors, including the severity of injury and its location. Possible treatment options include:

• Dental implants
• Root canal
• Cosmetic surgery
• Bone grafting
• Corrective jaw surgery

Regardless of the treatment plan recommended by your dentist, there is no denying that a slip and fall causing dental injury is expensive to deal with. The dental visits and procedures are expensive enough on their own, but what about the time you lose from work, including the sick and vacation days you may need to use? Then, there is the pain and suffering from repeated dental work and recovering from surgery and other procedures. With severe injuries, you may have permanent disfigurement or discomfort for the rest of your life, even if you seek medical attention right away.

There is no reason for you to struggle with financial hardship if careless or reckless conduct by someone else is the reason you are injured. Our slip and fall accident lawyers can help you obtain compensation from a personal injury claim, so please schedule a free consultation as soon as possible.

Generally, the right to sue for a slip and fall incident is based on premises liability, a legal concept that has to do with a property owner’s responsibility to those on their premises. In essence, owners have to maintain their property and make sure that it’s free of dangerous conditions that can harm others. This includes people that are invited for a social purpose (friends, neighbors, etc.), as well as people that serve a business purpose (customer, delivery driver, mail carrier, repair tech, etc.).

The responsibility to safeguard others is higher for owners of commercial properties, as there is a greater risk of injury at places like shopping malls and office buildings. Nevertheless, owners have a duty to keep the premises clean, make repairs, remove hazards, and perform other tasks on a regular basis to prevent the possibility of an accident. Thus, if you slip on something and fall down due to a condition like water leaks, lack of / poor lighting, or broken handrails, you have the right to seek compensation for your harm and suffering.

To learn more about the concept of premises liability and your right to sue for a slip and fall, contact our office and schedule a free case review.

The value of a slip and fall accident case may be around $10,000 to over $2,000,000 based on the degree of physical injury, pain and suffering, long-term health complications, and many other factors. Though it’s impossible to come up with an average settlement amount, we would say that our attorneys typically settle these cases for $75,000 and above. However, what you will end up with from a lawsuit is unique to your own circumstances, and that’s why it’s best to contact our law firm and talk to one of our legal experts. That way, you can learn about the damages you are entitled to, like medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, and punitive damages. Once we determine the damages you are eligible to receive, only then can we figure out the total amount you can request from the negligent party.

How long it takes to settle a slip and fall lawsuit can range from just a few weeks to over 2 years. If your case is tried in court, the amount of time to receive payment from a fall injury accident claim is likely to exceed 3 years. But over 95% of these lawsuits do not go to trial, so we tend to focus on the time it takes to reach a settlement with the other party.

Based on the majority of slip and fall cases at our law firm, claims against homeowners may be settled within 4 to 8 months. Claims against commercial property owners, on the other hand, can take 8 to 12 months. However, lawsuits involving severe injuries, especially those that result in disability, can take much longer – perhaps 18 to 24 months before both sides agree on the amount of compensation.

From the time you are injured from a slip and fall, you have 2 years to file a lawsuit. However, if you fell down at a property that’s owned by the government, you only have 6 months to file a fall injury accident claim. For more information on accident claims against public entities, please refer to the following section titled “Deadline to File an Injury Claim against the Government.”

Assuming that you are suing a private entity (homeowner, store, restaurant, office building, etc.), the statute of limitations for a lawsuit is 2 years, unless you have an injury from the accident that is not diagnosed until a later date. This can happen with conditions like dementia and other brain injuries, which may not be apparent for many months or years after you hit your head from a slip and fall. In this situation, you may file a lawsuit within 1 year from the discovery of an injury / illness.

There may be other exceptions in your case that will affect the amount of time you have for a lawsuit, though 2 years of the accident date is the deadline that applies in most cases. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like to verify how long you have to sue for a slip and fall injury.

Some places where people fall down are owned and operated by the government, like the city of Los Angeles or the State of California. Public school districts are also government entities, though they are referred to as special-purpose government entities. If you are injured on government property, you will need to file a claim within 6 months of a slip and fall incident.

Government accident claims are extremely complicated for many reasons, starting with the fact that each city, county, school system, etc., has their own set of claim forms. You must also provide evidence for how a specific agency / employee is liable for the accident and the damages you are seeking, along with documentation to show why you are entitled to these funds. Many claimants submit the claim thinking that they have made a strong and compelling argument, only to receive a rejection notice in the mail.

Seeking help from a lawyer right from the start is the best way to succeed in a government property slip and fall claim. But even if your claim is rejected, you still have 6 months to sue the department / agency by filing a lawsuit. Frankly, there is much more to know about the process of suing a government entity for an accident, which we can discuss with you during a free case evaluation.

A slip and fall injury lawyer is your best ally when you are left with injuries from an accident that was caused by someone else. Our goal is to protect your interests and fight to bring you the highest possible settlement from a lawsuit against the responsible party.

The process begins with a free consultation where you can learn about your rights and legal options. If you decide to proceed with a lawsuit, we will offer you a Zero Fee Guarantee so that you pay $0 for the cost of legal fees. It’s the negligent party that pays for attorneys’ fees, and that only happens if we bring you compensation from a slip and fall accident claim.

We hope to be a part of your journey to recovery. Contact our law firm and speak to a fall accident injury attorney.

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