As dental treatments continue to evolve, we expect several trends to shape our dental negligence enquiries in 2026. These insights are based on recent industry reports, dental complaints data and developments we’ve seen within our own claims data across all types of dental negligence cases.
Growth in Cosmetic Dentistry Issues
Cosmetic treatments have remained very popular in 2025, and with this increased demand comes a greater risk of poor planning or unrealistic expectations. Including issues with nerve injuries, infections and unsatisfactory aesthetic results becoming more common. From our claim statistics, we have seen a 90% increase in cosmetic dentistry claims since 2019, with the greatest increase in 2023, demonstrating that claims are rising alongside the popularity of the treatments. The number of dentistry related complaints to the Ombudsman have also been increasing year after year, in 2017/18 to 2022/23 complaints rose by 66% to 1,982.
Missed or Delayed Diagnosis
Missed periodontal disease, undiagnosed decay and delayed treatments remained one of the leading contributors in our dental negligence enquiries and across the wider dental landscape in 2025. According to our claims data since 2019, we have seen a 233% increase in misdiagnosis claims, reflecting the wide-spread pressures the dental sector has faced in the past few years. This is largely linked to poor dental examinations, dentist failures to identify warning signs, poor interpretation of x-rays and monitoring of ongoing dental conditions. As treatments become more complex and patient awareness increases, these oversights are more likely to result in further avoidable harm and a higher number of negligence claims. It’s important to note, we can only assist in claims where harm has been directly caused by a dentist’s negligent actions or inactions – issues arising solely from missed appointments or patient-led delays are not something we are able to help with.
Our Director’s Insights
We asked our Director, Christopher Dean, to share his insight on the most common trends and warning signs of dental neglect he has seen in cases over the past year. He highlighted the following recurring issues:
- “Dentist didn’t record pocket depths or otherwise check the gums and so miss signs of gum disease”
- “Dentist don’t examine the mouth carefully and fail to spot early cancer”
- “Dentists take x-ray films but don’t check them and miss decay”
- “Dentist don’t identify and treat tooth infections and so serious infections developed”
- “Dentist don’t explain the treatment options properly”
- “Dentist miss a cavity, so root canal treatment is needed”
- “Dentist don’t do root canal treatment properly”
What does this mean for 2026?
We expect to see cosmetic dental negligence enquiries to continue to rise as demand remains high and pressures on dental services persist. Missed or delayed diagnoses are also expected to remain high, with further reduced access to appointments and stretched NHS resources continuing to impact early detection of decay, gum disease and oral cancer.
Many of the issues we see stem from failures in routine checks or a lack of clear explanations about treatment options. As patients become more informed and willing to challenge poor care, understanding these risks will be crucial in 2026.
Our aim for 2026 and has been since we started, to help clients better understand their dental care and feel more confident in recognising when something has gone wrong with their dental treatment. Drawing from insight and advice from experienced professionals across both the dental and legal fields, and direct from staff who have handled dental negligence cases for many years. We pride ourselves on sharing clear, practical guidance to help patients understand what good dental practice should be. We share Blogs & News, FAQs and more updates on our social platforms including Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, and answer commonly asked dental and negligence-specific questions and create an open space for discussion, education and awareness.
Not ready to make a claim yet? You can use our compensation calculator to find out how much you could be awarded in compensation and your likelihood of a successful dental claim.