Santiago court orders clinic to pay $17 million for botched tooth extraction

The Tenth Civil Court of Santiago has ordered the Padre Mariano Dental Center to pay a patient approximately 17 million Chilean pesos in damages. The ruling stems from complications the patient experienced following a tooth extraction, which the court determined was not performed to required standards.

The patient developed dry alveolitis, a complication arising from improper wound healing after extraction. The court found that the dentist left fragments of the tooth root in the treated area, contributing to the problem. Furthermore, the clinic allegedly failed to treat the complication promptly, and prematurely granted medical discharge despite the ongoing issue, which worsened the patient's condition.

Another significant factor in the ruling was the lack of informed consent. The court determined that the patient did not receive sufficient information about the procedure's risks. This prevented her from making a fully informed decision and from reacting appropriately to the post-extraction complications.

Based on these findings, the court concluded that the dental center breached its contractual obligations to the patient, leading to the compensation order. The award includes 6,894,586 pesos for emergent damages and 10 million pesos for moral damages. The clinic's request for the case to be dismissed due to the statute of limitations was also rejected.