1192 euros and a regret

The long court battle over a crown between a dentist and a patient is finally over.

However, the two are far from green.

Dachau – Emotions ran high as early as October, when a 44-year-old woman from Dachau and her dentist met for the first time in front of the Dachau district court.

The woman had sued the dentist for what she believed to be a botched treatment, and the doctor denied any guilt.

All attempts by judge Cornelia Handl to persuade the two parties to reach an amicable agreement failed (we reported).

Now, half a year and countless correspondence later, both sides met again in court.

Since then, however, tempers have not calmed down.

Judge Daniel Dorner, who took over the case from his colleague Handl, nevertheless emphasized that he "wanted to leave no stone unturned" in order to reach an agreement.

If the process continues to drag on, "there is a risk of significant costs," with Dorner speaking of money as well as "time and effort."

But the plaintiff initially stuck to her point of view.

First, she wanted an apology from her long-time dentist.

Secondly, she wanted damages of 577.80 euros and, thirdly, compensation for pain and suffering in the amount of 3000 euros.

As a reminder: At Whitsun 2019, the dentist had attached a crown to a dental implant for the then 42-year-old.

However, the crown had come loose and was swallowed.

Because the sharp-edged part remained in a potentially life-threatening spot in the intestine, the woman from Dachau even had to go to a Munich hospital for two days.

The plaintiff therefore argued that her dentist had committed medical malpractice.

However, the defendant dentist emphasized that he acted in accordance with all the rules of medical art.

He also did not want to pay for the new crown, which the plaintiff had (successfully) attached to by another dentist at a price of EUR 577.88, if only because the old crown was still “technically and medically” defective after it had left the intestine had been functional.

You can find more current news from the district of Dachau at Merkur.de/Dachau.

Judge Dorner and the two lawyers - the dentist was represented by Carl-Gunther Rauch - still tried to calm the two brawlers.

Lawyer Rauch admitted, however, that he "can hardly speak to his client about the matter because he gets so upset every time".

And when the plaintiff repeated for the umpteenth time that she "isn't about the money" and that an agreement means nothing other than "letting the dentist get away with it," Judge Dorner scolded: "That has nothing to do with letting things get away with it .

You get money from the other side!”

Even lawyer Alexandra Strasser-Lauschke said at the end of the 44-year-old: "I would make the comparison.

That there is peace!“

After about an hour of negotiations, what seemed impossible for a long time came about.

Instead of the demanded EUR 3577.80, the plaintiff's dentist now pays a third of this amount: EUR 1192.

At the same time, the doctor declares his "regret for the consequences of the disputed incident".

In return, the plaintiff accepts that with this agreement "all disputed claims and demands are settled and settled".

In the end, Judge Dorner explained how this sum came about: In civil cases, the burden of proof lies with the plaintiff.

Of course, this entailed a certain risk, in this case: the woman from Dachau had to prove that a botched treatment would have led to an inflammation, which in turn would have caused the crown to come loose, which ultimately led to hospitalization.

On the other hand, according to Dorner in the direction of the defendant, "it is undisputed that the crown has come loose, with all the consequences".

And of course it might be technically possible to reuse a crown that has taken days through the human digestive tract after thorough sterilization.

"From a legal point of view," said the judge, "one has to ask whether this is reasonable."

None of the parties was really happy at the end of the day of negotiations.

After all, the plaintiff reports, she can finally sleep peacefully again.

Now that she can speak her mind to her former dentist, "I no longer have nightmares about teeth."