Lawsuit filed against Joplin dental firm

A Jasper County resident who claims she received nerve damage from the botched removal of two teeth, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Associates of Dentistry, a Joplin firm, Charles McGinty DDS and Greyson Spriggs DDS.

According to the petition, Heather Brown visited Associates of Dentistry, 410 S. Pearl Avenue, February 29, 2024, with two infected teeth. McGinty pulled one of the teeth and did a surgical extraction of the other.

Brown claims McGinty damaged "one or more nerves" adjacent to the teeth and that he "failed to administer antibiotics to plaintiff in a timely manner and sufficient quantity before, during and after the extraction procedure." Spriggs is listed as a defendant because he and McGinty are partners in Associates of Dentistry.

According to the petition, McGinty allegedly did the following:

-Negligently performed a surgical extraction which he was not qualified to perform.

-Negligently performed a surgical extraction which his dental office was not sufficiently or adequately equipped to safely perform

-Failed to refer Brown to someone who was qualified to perform the extraction procedure

According to the lawsuit, Brown has suffered "permanent nerve damage in her mouth, severe pain in her mouth and numbness in her lip, chin and inside of her mouth.

Brown, who is represented by Scott Vorhees of Vorhees, Johnson and Martucci, is asking for fair and reasonable damages.