Dentist Ordered to Pay $15 Million Pesos After Patient Loses Sense of Taste Following Extraction
SANTIAGO, CHILE – A Chilean dentist has been ordered to pay $15 million pesos in compensation to a patient who permanently lost their sense of taste following a dental extraction, the Supreme Court confirmed.
The case stemmed from an injury to the patient’s lingual nerve during the procedure, resulting in ageusia – the total loss of taste. The patient filed a lawsuit alleging contractual liability, and lower courts initially ruled in their favor. The dentist appealed, seeking a reduction in the sentence, but the first Chamber of the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the appeal.
Court documents state that a contractual agreement for dental services existed between the dentist and the patient, and that the resulting loss of taste was directly linked to the intervention.
“Has permanent sequelae due to injury to the lingual nerve which is causally linked to the intervention carried out by the defendant,who did not carry out the intervention with sufficient diligence,” the court resolution stated.
The $15 million peso compensation is intended to cover both moral damages and the suffering experienced by the patient as a result of the intervention.
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