S.C. woman loses 13 teeth, wins $2 million

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COLUMBIA — A Sumter woman has won a $2 million jury verdict against a dental clinic that mistakenly pulled 13 teeth.

Twenty-eight-year-old Elizabeth Smith wanted three teeth pulled when she went to the Sexton Dental Clinic in Florence in 2006. Her lawsuit says a dentist at the clinic pulled all 16 of her upper teeth.

State court records in Florence indicate the jury returned the award late last week.

One of Ms. Smith's lawyers, Robert Ransom, says the woman plans to have restorative surgery as soon as possible. That's estimated to cost about $80,000.

Clinic attorney Saunders Bridges says he is considering an appeal.

Comments

Native007

Wow, imagine waking up and all of your teeth are gone!

liveandlearn

How in the heck did the dentist accidentally pull out all of her upper teeth???? He didn't confirm with the patient what he would be doing before he started? Any time I go to the doctor or dentist's office, they always give me a play by play of what they are going to do BEFORE they do it. That clinic should be shut down for its negligence.

3M3T1B

153K per tooth. I'll give up a few.

MadSnapper

How long did the jury chew on the evidence? I don't know if the clinic should be shut down because 2 million will take a huge bite from their bottom line that will be hard to bridge.

Native007

LOL Im sure it left a cavity in their revenues.

MadSnapper

This story leaves me with a bad filling.

Native007

Well, of the whiter side of things, the vicitm woke up with 13 half dollars under her pillow the next day.

double_standard

2 million were they all gold teeth.

MadSnapper

The jurors were anti-dentites.

Dan White

Health insurance reform needs to start with tort reform to prevent the high cost doctors and dentists pay out and their insurance companies pay out on outrageous settlements for mal-practice and human error.

MadSnapper

Next thing you know greenjacket will say that doctors and dentists should have their own schools.

Dixieman

Greenjacket is right about this.

MadSnapper

Obviously not Seinfeld fans here.

GnipGnop1

What kind of dentures cost 80k?

The Ode

This is but a microscosm of what is really wrong with medical care in the US. If Obama and Congress were really interested in reforming healthcare and reducing costs instead of socialist medical care then they would start by passing compreshensive tort reform and limit malpractice awards. This is just ridiculous.

omnomnom

madsnapper, rabid anti-dentites.

MadSnapper

Thanks omnomom, glad to see someone else knows something about nothing.

FallingLeaves

What a nightmare!

andrew412

MadSnapper, they came to this country just like everybody else, in search of a dream! just let them pull teeth.

MadSnapper

Exactly, and if they want to celebrate Festivus more power to them. Time for the airing of grievances!

KSL

Why does a 28 year old need any teeth pulled?

Peaches36

I'm still LMAO at some of these comments I guess they want gum ups...

MadSnapper

This was supposed to be "The Summer of Elizabeth"

olafjohnson

This just leaves me with a "rotten" feeling!

MadSnapper

What is the minimum amount of teeth one can have on top before they ALL need to go? olaf I believe you are the epitome of an anti-dentite.

disssman

A perfect example of why we need Tort reform. This woman may look very good with no teesth. I am sure the dental clinic that pulled them was giving her a cut rate for the extra work. Man some people just don't appreciate a little mistake do they. Its kinda like the guy who went in for gall bladder surgery a few years ago and woke up with a leg missing. These people are just making a big deal out of nothing , that can't re rectified by a few surgeries and a little pain.

KingJames

KSL and Olaf, the article says she went to get 3 teeth extracted, but the dentist removed all 16 of her upper teeth. Most people get their 3rd molars extracted. Those four teeth alone account for most dental surgeries. Because the story says all 16 teeth of the upper arch were extracted, it is reasonable that that the 3rd molars were probably the reason two of the teeth were on the treatment plan for extraction. The third tooth could have had any number of common indications of nonrestorability. By the way, you guys probably had your 3rd molars extracted, too. 3rd molars are your wisdom teeth. GnipGnop, dentures are costly, but judging by the price and the fact that story says she will have restorative surgery as soon as possible, the woman will probably have implantology instead of getting a removable partial denture.

MadSnapper

Olaf my friend, you are also the epitome of poor reading comprehension. She had 16, only three of which were supposed to be pulled. Poor reading comprehension is a trait common to anti-dentites, isnt that right omnomom?

olafjohnson

Hmm, "madsnapper" my bad!! by the way, is your snapper really "mad"??? I like mad snappers!

MadSnapper

Just having fun Olaf! No snapper like a mad snapper.

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