During the Course of Performing a Root Canal on Dawn

Essay

During the course of performing a root canal on Dawn, Dr. Toth, an oral surgeon, gets an implement stuck in Dawn's tooth and it breaks. Dr. Toth cannot extract the broken piece of the implement from Dawn's tooth, so he leaves it there. He completes the root canal, and does not disclose to Dawn that he has left part of a dental implement imbedded in her tooth. Dawn's other dental work, including the placement of a crown on the tooth with the implement in it, is then completed. Two years later, Dawn begins to have significant problems with the tooth on which Dr. Toth performed the root canal. Dawn has a serious infection that requires the removal of not only the tooth that Dr. Toth performed the surgery on, but also the teeth on either side of it. She misses a significant amount of work to have the dental work performed and suffers a considerable amount of pain. Does Dr. Toth's conduct meet the requirements of a negligence claim? Explain why or why not.