Broken (Fractured) Tooth Claims in Florida Accidents

In this article, I explain the settlement values of a broken or fractured tooth in a Florida accident caused by someone else. I do this, in part, by talking about past settlements and verdicts in Florida involving broken teeth.

I give my thoughts below each settlement or verdict mentioned below.

As you can imagine, if you break your adult tooth, the settlement will generally be greater than if a child fractures a “baby” tooth. There are many factors that affect the amount of money that you may get for a broken tooth from an accident.

Settlements and Verdicts involving Broken Teeth

$10,000 verdict (not my case) for pain and suffering for a 75 year old shopper in Target in Miami-Dade County, Florida who fell down. She broke 2 teeth, tore a shoulder (rotator cuff) and had wrist pain.

$5,000 was for past pain and suffering, $5,000 was for future pain and suffering and $13,615 was awarded for medical expenses. $20,800 was awarded to her husband for loss of consortium. The total verdict was for $44,415. The verdict was in 2008. The case is Toledo vs. Target.

My thoughts: The jury awarded her $500 a year for her future pain and suffering. I arrived at this amount by using the life tables, which show her life expectancy to be 10 more years. $5,000 divided by 10 is $500 per year. This verdict for pain and suffering is way below the average settlement for pain and suffering for a torn rotator cuff (shoulder).

It is very unique that the loss of consortium award to her husband was twice the amount that she received for pain and suffering. This very rarely happens. I can’t remember if I have ever seen that happen.

Normally, the verdict for loss of consortium is a fraction of the total pain and suffering that is awarded to the injured party. The jury found that the shopper was 50% at fault for the accident.

This verdict follows the saying that in a trip and fall case, you can automatically assume that the Plaintiff is 50% at fault. Although sometimes the jury will find that the Plaintiff is not at fault at all, most of the time the jury finds that Plaintiff at least 50% at fault for not paying attention.

In Florida, even if you are at fault you can recover damages in a personal injury case. But the value of your case is reduced by your percentage of fault. In this case, the shopper may receive 50% of the total verdict.

Check out some other injury verdicts and settlements for accidents at Target stores.