Dentists File Class-Action Lawsuit Against 3M over Faulty Dental Crowns

MINNEAPOLIS, May 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Dentists from Georgia and Texas have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in Minnesota federal court against Minneapolis-based 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), claiming that the company's Lava Ultimate dental crowns contain defects that cause the crowns to de-bond inside patients' mouths.  Dentists have been forced to cover the cost of replacing the crowns, according to the lawsuit.

Attorneys from Burns Charest LLP, a Texas and Louisiana trial boutique, filed the lawsuit on behalf of a proposed nationwide class of dentists seeking damages and other relief.

3M aggressively began marketing its Lava Ultimate crowns in 2011, telling dentists that the crowns provided unmatched aesthetics and durability for tooth restorations. But the plaintiff dentists say the 3M crowns failed at rates of 50 percent or more, requiring expensive replacements.

3M pulled the Lava Ultimate products for use in restorative crowns from the market last summer and admitted that the product was "de-bonding at a higher-than anticipated rate."

"This suit involves hundreds of thousands of 3M Lava Ultimate restorations performed in dental practices throughout the country," says Burns Charest lead partner Warren T. Burns. "Every day, dentists are replacing Lava Ultimate crowns at great expense to their practices and reputations – all because 3M put a faulty product on the market and continued to aggressively market it despite clear evidence that it failed at remarkable rates."

Replacing 3M's de-bonded crowns can cost dentists more than $1,000 per restoration, Mr. Burns says.

The proposed class includes dentists or corporate dental practices in the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam who purchased and/or used 3M's Lava™ Ultimate Restorative.

The dentists are also represented by co-lead counsel Daniel C. Hedlund of Minneapolis' Gustafson Gluek PLLC and Charles D. Gabriel of Atlanta-based Chalmers Pak Burch & Adams LLC.

The case is Vikram Bhatia et al v. 3M Company, Case No. 0:16-cv-01304, in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota.

Burns Charest is a Dallas and New Orleans-based trial law firm with a national practice representing consumers and businesses. The firm represents clients in large, complex class actions; antitrust claims; oil and gas royalty disputes; environmental pollution cases; and asbestos exposure claims. To learn more, visit http://www.burnscharest.com.

For more information, please contact Barry Pound at 800-559-4534 or [email protected].

SOURCE Burns Charest LLP

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