Depends on the nature of the fracture.  You've already stated your chip
was small, so this is only an academic exercise.  A big fracture may
require crowning; there could be a need for crown lengthening;
conceivably root canal treatment; or maybe the tooth would be lost.

 What is a second molar

    Obviously there is no "open market" on second molars.  Also, obviously
this is not a dental question.  If you're asking what kind of settlement
this might lead to in a court of law, I cannot answer because I do not
know.  I'm guessing it would hinge not only on the value ("damages" in
legal terms) and the implication of negligence.  It certainly could be
negligence, but IMO not necessarily, because you would have to assume
that another dentist exercising due care would be able to do the
extraction without damage.  Depending on many factors which I can't go
into this is not necessarily a valid assumption.  I can tell you that
not infrequently an oral surgeon will decline to extract a wisdom tooth
for me for any number of reasons, but obviously if the extraction is
urgent sometimes a certain amount of risk must be assumed by the dentist
and surgeon and you hope for the best.  Here is where informed consent
is important, but all possible complications cannot always be predicted.
 That's just the nature of the beast.

    This is probably just as likely to happen with the amalgam.

    I'm sorry--I'm sensing a troll here, and I'm not going to get into a
complicated argument here.  Yes, unexpected things happen--to me too,
and I'm not an unsympathetic guy.  So in a situation where something
unexpected happens, I go over the situation with the patient and we come
to an agreement.  I'm not going to discuss the process, because it
depends on the situation.  But I've had very few serious conflicts over
30 years in practice, and I've never paid a patient for some perceived
harm.  I just don't see this scenario as realistic when two grownups are
dealing with each other.

    Doesn't matter what I think--I don't know enough about the particulars
of the case, and as I said I can't determine from what you've said that
there has been anything done incorrectly at all.  You'll have to work
that out with your dentist.

Steve

Steven Bornfeld,

How should such a major fracture be handled? What is a second molar
worth on the open market?! What would be a fair settlement?

It was by another dentist, but I'd rather wait as long as practical to
have my teeth last as long as I do. Most of these have big cracks but
are not broken (yet), and I presume that once the amalgam is dug out and
the tooth is crowned, that it will abscess in 15-20 years or so like the
last one I did, because of leakage through the crack, and have to be
pulled then. I expect to be around for more than 20 years, but who knows.

You didn't cover any of the interesting cases - where substantial repair
may now be needed that wasn't needed before the extraction. To my
untrained eye, this looks like a good candidate for some sort of an
inlay/onlay to replace the massive old amalgam, which now has a groove
the length of the tooth that I can stick the end of my fingernail into
leading from the point of damage. How do you deal with expensive repairs
to dentist-caused damage?

There has been much commentary here about the stress of dentistry,
obnoxious patients, etc. How does a patient go about NOT being obnoxious
yet still be treated fairly (whatever that is).

I was considering going in for a routine examination of the tooth
without first mentioning the extracted tooth and see what he says. If HE
decides that it needs expensive repair, then open the discussion as to
who pays what to have it done. Perhaps fair would be for me to cover his
out-of-pocket expenses, but have him work for free in repairing the
tooth that he damaged.

What do YOU think would be fair?

Steve Richfie1d

    The answer depends upon the state of the tooth.  If it is a small sharp
edge it may just need to be smoothed--no biggie.  If this is a massive
old amalgam you must understand that the tooth is probably fragile and
would have been a maintenance problem whether the wisdom tooth were
extracted or not.  Under the circumstances, a minor chip on the next
tooth might be considered a normal risk of the extraction, while a major
fracture leading to the loss of the second molar would not.
    If the tooth was considered a candidate for a crown beforehand, I don't
think the small chip changes the situation, though you may think about
having it done now.

Steve

I just had a super-erupted wisdom tooth extracted. After leaving his
office, I noticed that the 2nd molar was sharp, and on further
examination it appears that part of the filling is missing and possibly
a small part has been chipped off of the rear of the 2nd molar.

The 2nd molar now has a massive old amalgam that would have to be
replaced with something else.

What is a reasonable way of handling this, without yelling, screaming,
getting everyone's blood pressure up, etc? I am looking for fair and
reasonable rather than legal advice? Should I expect the dentist to fix
this for free, or chip in for part of the restoration?

Any thoughts?

Steve Richfie1d