Dentist's Liability Question.

[Snoopy1948]

My wife has been an NHS patient with her dentist for some 30 years and last year had bridge treatment that we paid £1050 for. That was, by agreement , private treatment as it wasn't available on the NHS.

A few months after the treatment, her long standing dentist announced his retirement, out of the blue, and sold the practice to a new and younger dentist who, we were informed, would maintain all existing NHS patients on his books, as part of the agreement in buying the practice. We were also told that private fees would be maintained at the same level.

MY wife is now reporting possible problems with the bridge work that is probably some nine months old.

Can anyone advise if the new dentist has any liability in law to ensure the integrity of the bridge work should it need a repair or replacement due to either faulty materials or workmanship, assuming that can be proven?

Appreciate all advice.

[Ripped-Off]

Re: Dentist's Liability Question.

That's a very good question and one that I have not thought about before.

You'd have thought that when the practice was sold there would be some kind of undertaking or insurance in place to cover such an eventuality. Might be worthwhile ringing the dentist to find out. They'll either happily accept your good lady and put right the problem, or fob you off with some lame excuse which you can then investigate further.

I'd be interested to know the answer so please post back if you find out more.

[des8]

Re: Dentist's Liability Question.

Te following extract from http://www.bda.org/dentists/advice/c...es_-_apr11.pdf would suggest he former dentist is liable for the costs of repair carried out by the new owner.
The new owner should have in place an agreement with the former owner to cover these eventualities.
There should be no cost to your wife if te problems are due to faulty workmanship or materials.

"Handling failed treatment after leaving the practice
After the associateship has ended some former patients of the associate will return to thepractice needing replacement work. The associate remains liable for treatment provided andany reasonable repair or replacement costs. It is suggested that the parties agree areasonable sum for the practice owner to retain to cover the costs of this work. This figureshould be based on the actual value of replacement work carried out in the previous year.The practice owner should provide the former associate with details of all replacement workcarried out and repay any surplus at the end of an agreed period, say six or twelve months."