A 62 year old male presented to a dentist for a new partial denture to be fabricated and placed in patient's mouth. Following multiple calls complaining to the dentist of denture not fitting properly which the dentist ignored, plaintiff accidentally swallowed the denture several months later. Numerous unsuccessful attempts were made to extract the denture, resulting in esophageal perforation. The patient had a prolonged hospital course complicated by brain abscesses requiring multiple neurosurgical procedures and eventual recovery.

medQuest provided experts in both dentistry and gastroenterology. The dental expert opined that though the denture appeared clinically adequate, the defendant failed to provide acceptable follow-up care despite multiple phone calls and complaints from the patient which the dentist never documented. The GI expert opined that there was a failure to timely perform a CAT scan and to scope the patient, as well as a failure to timely refer patient to a thoracic surgeon. Perforation was less likely to occur with prompt treatment. Case settled for an undisclosed amount.