What to expect from an independent expert review

The expert is a dentist or surgeon who practises in the same field as the treatment being examined — an endodontist for root canal cases, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon for nerve injuries, a periodontist for gum disease. They have no connection to the practitioner concerned and are not chosen for being sympathetic. Their duty is to the court, not to the person paying for the report, and that duty overrides everything else.

The expert works primarily from the documents: clinical notes, radiographs, consent forms, referral correspondence. Many reports are prepared without meeting the patient at all. Where the ongoing effect on you is central — chronic pain, altered sensation, psychological impact — a face-to-face examination is usually arranged, typically lasting under an hour.

The report addresses breach of duty and causation as distinct questions. It is common, and often decisive, for an expert to conclude that the care was substandard but that the outcome would have been the same regardless. That combination ends most claims, and an honest adviser will tell you so at that point rather than encouraging you onward.

A supportive report allows a letter of claim to be served, setting out the allegations and inviting a response within four months. An unsupportive report usually ends the claim, and being told this early is the point of obtaining it early. Where the opinion is qualified, a second expert in a different discipline is sometimes instructed — for example a restorative opinion on the remedial work required, alongside a surgical opinion on the original error.

Under a conditional fee agreement, the expert's fee is generally funded as a disbursement and recovered from the defendant if the claim succeeds. If it does not, after-the-event insurance typically covers it. You should be told in writing before any expert is instructed exactly what happens to that cost in each outcome — and if that is not explained clearly, ask before signing anything.