Oral injuries can be incredibly painful, unsightly, and expensive to fix. Surgeries and doctors’ visits may lead to lost time at work. With expensive medical bills and lost wages, this can put an employee in financial hardship. When an employee’s mouth is injured on the job, they may wonder whether workers’ compensation will pay for their dental work.
Will I Be Compensated?
If an employee experiences dental injuries at work, Pennsylvania workers’ compensation will likely cover the necessary dental work. Those who missed workdays for surgeries, doctors’ appointments, or recovery may be entitled to wage loss benefits. Wage loss benefits may also be applicable to an employee who sustained scars or disfigurement from the injury. This is dependent on a judge’s decision. Their decision may depend on the severity of the injury and how the disfigurement alters a person’s day-to-day life.
Types of Dental Injuries
In Pennsylvania, workers’ compensation covers a variety of dental injuries and procedures. Covered dental injuries may include:
- Losing a tooth
- Breaking or chipping a tooth
- Loose teeth
- Broken jaw
- Tooth intrusion
- Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders
In order to treat injuries, injured workers may have to undergo multiple procedures, treatment, and therapy. These treatments are typically covered by workers’ compensation.
How to Obtain Compensation
After an employer is injured, it is important that they initiate the process of obtaining compensation. The first thing an employee should do after a work-related injury is report it to their employer. In Pennsylvania, an employee has 120 days to report a work-related injury. However, it is encouraged to begin the process as soon as possible.
After reporting the injury, the employee should visit a doctor. Seeking aid from a medical professional is not only important for one’s health, but it also helps begin the injury documentation process. After this, the employer should file a First Report of Injury. Once this is filed, the injured employee can file a claim with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and with the Workers’ Compensation Bureau. The employer must report the injury to the insurance carrier. The insurance carrier has 21 days to either accept or deny the injured employee’s claim.
The Importance of Having a Lawyer
Dental injury claims less common, and therefore tend to be more complex than other injury claims. Because of their infrequency, claims adjusters are often unfamiliar with proper billing procedures. Similarly, it may be difficult proving that an employee sustained a dental injury while at work.
Insurers may claim that dental work is unnecessary or cosmetic. Insurers make claims like these in order to avoid paying for expensive procedures that are intended to improve the quality of life for an injured employee. In order to combat these issues, it is important to contact a workers’ compensation lawyer.
Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Larry Pitt & Associates, P.C. Help Employees Obtain Compensation for Dental Injuries
If you or a loved one is seeking compensation for work-related injuries, you are urged to contact a Philadelphia workers’ compensation lawyer at Larry Pitt & Associates, P.C. Our lawyers work tirelessly to obtain the compensation that our clients deserve. Contact us online or call us at 888-PITT-LAW today for a free consultation.
With offices located in Philadelphia, Bensalem, Lansdowne, and Reading, we proudly serve clients in Berks County, Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Philadelphia County and throughout Pennsylvania including those in the communities of Abington, Ambler, Ardmore, Bala Cynwyd, Bensalem, Clifton Heights, Crum Lynne, Darby, Downingtown, Doylestown, Drexel Hill, Essington, Folcroft, Glenolden, Haverford, Havertown, Holmes, Kutztown, Lansdowne, Media, Merion Station, Morton, Narberth, Norristown, Norwood, Philadelphia, Prospect Park, Quakertown, Reading, Roxborough, Sharon Hill, Upper Darby, West Chester, and Wynnewood.
