Dental and Facial Injuries After a Crash

A crash throws your face toward the steering wheel, the dashboard, the airbag, or the side glass in a fraction of a second. The result is often broken teeth, a fractured jaw, deep lacerations, or a shattered cheekbone. These injuries are painful, expensive, and frequently permanent — and Arizona insurance companies love to lowball them because the damage is “only cosmetic.”

How Phoenix Crashes Wreck Your Face and Teeth

Even with seatbelts and airbags, the face takes a brutal hit in a collision. An airbag deploys at speeds over 100 mph and can knock teeth loose or fracture facial bones on its own. Common dental and facial injuries we see after a Phoenix car accident include:

• Avulsed (knocked-out) teeth and chipped or cracked teeth
• Jaw fractures and TMJ damage that make chewing and speaking painful
• Broken nose and orbital (eye socket) fractures
• Cheekbone and maxillary fractures
• Deep facial lacerations that leave permanent scars

If you ride two wheels, the risk is even higher. Motorcycle riders and bicyclists who go over the handlebars often land face-first, and a partial helmet does nothing to protect the jaw or teeth.

Why You Need to Be Seen Immediately

A knocked-out tooth can sometimes be saved if a dentist re-implants it within an hour or two. Keep the tooth moist — in milk or tucked against your cheek — and get to a dentist or emergency room fast. Beyond saving the tooth, prompt treatment creates the medical record that ties your injury directly to the crash.

Facial injuries are notorious for hidden complications. A jaw that “just feels sore” can be fractured. A blow to the cheek can damage the nerves that control sensation and movement. Concussions and traumatic brain injuries frequently ride along with facial trauma. Get imaging done, follow up with specialists, and do not tough it out. Gaps in treatment are the first thing an adjuster uses to argue you were not really hurt.

What Your Claim Is Actually Worth

Dental and facial injury claims are bigger than people expect, because the costs stretch far past the emergency room. A single dental implant can run into the thousands of dollars, and crowns, bridges, root canals, and orthodontic work add up quickly. Implants are not forever, either — they need replacement over a lifetime, and that future cost belongs in your claim. Reconstructive and oral surgery, follow-up procedures, and treatment for chronic TMJ pain all count too.

Then there is the part insurers try hardest to ignore: the human toll. Arizona law lets you recover non-economic damages for pain, for the embarrassment of a missing or discolored tooth, and for permanent scarring and disfigurement. A facial scar that you see in the mirror every day is a real, compensable harm. So is the anxiety of no longer wanting to smile in photos. Document everything with dated photographs from the day of the crash through full healing.

Arizona Rules That Affect Your Case

Two pieces of Arizona law shape almost every dental and facial injury claim.

First, the deadline. Under Arizona’s statute of limitations, A.R.S. § 12-542, you generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. Miss it and your claim is gone, no matter how strong it was. Dental reconstruction can drag on for years, so do not wait until treatment is “finished” to talk to a lawyer.

Second, fault. Arizona follows pure comparative fault under A.R.S. § 12-2505. Even if the insurance company tries to pin part of the blame on you, you can still recover — your award is just reduced by your percentage of fault. So if you were found 20 percent responsible, you still collect 80 percent of your damages. Adjusters exploit this rule constantly to shave down payouts, which is exactly why you want an aggressive advocate countering them.

Do Not Let an Adjuster Define Your Future

Here is the trap. The insurance company calls within days, sounds friendly, and offers a quick check that covers your ER bill and maybe a temporary crown. What it does not cover is the implant you will need next year, the replacement implant a decade after that, the TMJ therapy, or the scar that never fades. Once you sign that release, you cannot go back for more — even when the real bills arrive.

Before you accept anything, get a clear picture of your long-term dental and surgical needs from your own providers, not the insurer’s. Our coverage gap tool can help you see whether the available policies are enough to cover what you are truly owed, and our case investigator walks you through the early steps that protect your claim.

Talk to the Law Badgers

You did not choose to have your face or your smile damaged by someone else’s carelessness, and you should not have to pay for it. Whether your crash happened on the Loop 101, in a Phoenix intersection, or anywhere else in the Valley, the Law Badgers will fight for every dollar your dental and facial injuries deserve. Contact us today for a free, no-pressure consultation — we do not get paid unless you do.