If a crash, fall, assault, or dog bite left you with facial fractures, broken or knocked-out teeth, a jaw or TMJ injury, or scarring you are afraid will be permanent, the part of your claim that matters most is often the part an insurer is quickest to wave off. Facial trauma is where two kinds of harm stack on top of each other: the cost of rebuilding what was broken, often over years, and the lasting change to how you look, eat, speak, and breathe. Both are recoverable under Nevada law. Neither is “just cosmetic,” whatever the adjuster says.
What You Need to Know
- Permanent facial scarring and disfigurement are compensable in Nevada as part of your non-economic damages, alongside pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. Nevada does not put “disfigurement” on its own line on the verdict form, but the law lets you recover for a lasting, noticeable change to your appearance, proven with before-and-after photos, medical records confirming permanence, and testimony.
- The cost of future reconstruction and dental work belongs in your claim, not just the bills you already have. Jaw surgery, orbital repair, dental implants, and scar-revision procedures can continue for years; their projected cost is recoverable as future medical damages when it is documented.
- Insurers routinely discount facial injuries as “cosmetic” to lower the payout. A trauma repair that restores function (chewing, vision, breathing, speech) is medical, not cosmetic, and the distinction is worth real money.
- Settling before you know the full reconstructive picture can forfeit the largest part of your recovery. Once you sign a release, you generally cannot reopen the claim if later surgeries or complications appear.
- In Nevada you generally have two years from the date of injury to file (NRS 11.190(4)(e)), and your own degree of fault can reduce or bar recovery under the state’s 51% comparative-negligence rule.
If you are weighing whether to handle this yourself or talk to a lawyer, a free consultation will tell you where your claim stands before any deadline or settlement decision is made.
On This Page
- If This Just Happened: what to do in the first days
- Is My Facial Injury a Real Claim, and What’s It Worth?: how to size up your situation
- Why Scarring and Disfigurement Are Worth More Than the Insurer Says
- Future Reconstruction and Dental Cost Belong in Your Claim
- How Insurers Discount Facial Injuries, and How That’s Countered
- Who Is Liable, and How Nevada Law Affects Your Recovery
- What to Look For and Ask Before You Decide
- How Long You Have to File
- Frequently Asked Questions
Why Hire Jack Bernstein Injury Lawyers?
Jack G. Bernstein, Esq. has been protecting the rights of injured victims and their families for over 40 Years.
What Our Clients Say
The staff, especially Janette, are the ultimate in professionalism, response and results. After being in a life-threatening accident, that was no fault of my own, Jack Bernstein and his very capable staff completely handled every aspect of my very complicated injury case. We always felt heard, cared for, and the experience of the staff is second to none. They were able to resolve my case in 18 months, and our lives have been made whole again. You feel like you are part of their family, and no one is ever too busy to talk with you or answer any questions. From the 1st phone call to closing the case, there is no doubt we chose the best law firm. We are grateful for all they have done, and highly recommend Jack Bernstein and his amazing staff for all their time, attention and assistance in fighting for an end result that we are truly grateful for. Bob, Brian, Blake, Janette and Jack, thank you for all you have done. We will always speak well of you all.
If This Just Happened
If the injury is recent, a few steps in the first days protect both your health and your claim. You do not need a lawyer to do any of them.
- Get and keep treating. Follow through on every referral: oral surgeon, ophthalmologist, dentist, plastic surgeon. A gap in treatment is the first thing an insurer uses to argue the injury was minor.
- Photograph the injury early and often. Clear photos in the days after the injury, and again as it heals, become the before-and-after record that later proves how your appearance changed.
- Preserve what shows how it happened. The crash report, the incident report from the property, the dog owner’s information, names of witnesses, and your own written notes while memory is fresh.
- Be careful with the adjuster’s call. A friendly call “to check on you” within a day or two is often a recorded statement designed to lock in answers that shrink the claim. You are not required to give one.
- Note the clock. Nevada’s filing deadline is generally two years from the injury, and evidence such as surveillance footage can be overwritten in a matter of weeks.
What this means for you: the most valuable parts of a facial-injury claim, permanent appearance change and future surgeries, are also the slowest to become clear. The early record you build now is what proves them later.
If you would rather talk it through, Jack Bernstein Injury Lawyers offers a free consultation.
Is My Facial Injury a Real Claim, and What’s It Worth?
Whether a facial injury is a real claim, and how much it is worth, comes down to three things: how permanent the harm is, how much function it takes away, and how well that harm is documented. A scrape that heals cleanly is a small claim. A fracture that leaves a visible deformity, a bite that no longer lines up, or a missing tooth that needs a lifelong implant is a serious one. The injuries below are the ones that most often drive real value, because each can cause lasting functional or appearance loss.
| Injury | What It Is | Why It Can Be Permanent |
|---|---|---|
| Le Fort fracture (I, II, III) | A fracture that separates the midface from the skull, classified by how high the break runs | Can leave a misaligned bite (malocclusion), blocked nasal breathing, nerve numbness, or facial deformity if not precisely repaired |
| Orbital (eye socket) fracture | A break in the bones around the eye | Can cause double or impaired vision, persistent tearing, and nerve damage |
| Mandible (jaw) fracture | A break in the lower jawbone, often wired shut for weeks to heal | Can leave a misaligned bite, restricted jaw opening, and difficulty eating or speaking |
| Zygomatic (cheekbone) fracture | A break in the cheekbone | Can flatten the face and leave cheek numbness |
| TMJ dysfunction | Damage to the jaw joint, often after a fracture or blunt impact | Chronic jaw pain, limited opening, and trouble chewing that can persist for years |
| Dental avulsion / tooth loss | Teeth knocked out or destroyed | Permanent loss of function; replacement with implants or prosthetics, plus bone loss that changes facial contour |
(These descriptions are general medical background, not medical advice about your specific injury. Sources: StatPearls, EyeWiki.)
Most of these injuries share a pattern: if they are not repaired precisely (usually with surgery to reset the bone and restore the bite), they can leave lasting problems with eating, speaking, breathing, vision, or appearance. That permanence is what separates a minor claim from a major one.
A few factors make a claim stronger: a documented onset tied directly to the incident, medical records confirming the harm is permanent and not fully correctable, a clear effect on daily function or your job, and consistent treatment. A claim is weaker when the injury healed fully, treatment was sporadic, or the records do not connect the injury to the incident. These are factors, not a verdict. Every case turns on its own facts and evidence.
Bottom line: the question is not whether your face was injured, but whether the harm is lasting, functional, and documented. Those three together are what give a facial-trauma claim its value.
Why Scarring and Disfigurement Are Worth More Than the Insurer Says
A permanent scar or a changed facial structure is one of the few injuries a person carries visibly for the rest of their life, and Nevada law treats it as a real loss. Under Nevada’s damages framework, a lasting, noticeable change to your appearance is compensable as part of your non-economic damages, the same category that covers pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. There is a nuance worth understanding. Nevada does not give “disfigurement” its own separate line on the jury’s verdict form the way a few other states do. Instead, the impact of scarring on your appearance, self-image, and mental health is folded into the broader non-economic award the jury is asked to value.
That distinction matters in practice, because it means disfigurement is not proven by pointing to a statute. It is proven with evidence:
- Before-and-after photographs documenting the scar’s size, location, and visibility over time.
- Medical records confirming the scar or deformity is permanent and that surgery cannot fully remove it.
- Testimony from you, family, and treating or mental-health providers describing the physical and emotional toll.
- Functional and contextual factors that raise the value: scars on the face, neck, or hands; younger age, because the change is carried longer; and jobs that depend on appearance or public contact.
What this means for you: because there is no automatic dollar figure, the value of a disfigurement claim is built, not assumed. The photographs you take and the records you keep are what turn “it’s just a scar” into a documented, lasting loss a jury can put a number on.
There is no fixed formula for what scarring is worth in Nevada; a jury is asked to reach fair compensation based on the evidence and the severity, location, and life impact of the injury. Any figure you see advertised as a typical settlement is an illustration, not a promise. Actual outcomes depend on the specific facts, evidence, and circumstances of each case.
Future Reconstruction and Dental Cost Belong in Your Claim
The bills you have already received are usually the smallest part of a serious facial injury. Reconstruction often unfolds over years: staged surgeries, revision procedures, dental implants that may need replacement, orthodontics to correct a bite, and scar-revision work. Nevada law allows you to recover the reasonable cost of future medical care when that cost is documented and supported, not only the expenses already incurred.
The ranges below are drawn from general national cost data and are included only to show why future care can dwarf the initial bills. They are illustrative; your actual costs depend entirely on your injuries and treatment.
| Procedure | Illustrative U.S. Cost Range |
|---|---|
| Single dental implant (per tooth) | $1,500 – $6,000 |
| Full-arch dental implants (all-on-4/6) | $20,000 – $50,000+ per arch |
| Jaw reconstruction surgery | $10,000 – $50,000+ |
| Orbital fracture repair | $10,000 – $30,000+ |
| Scar-revision surgery | $4,000 – $10,000+ |
| Major multi-bone facial reconstruction | $100,000+ |
These figures are for illustrative purposes only. Actual case outcomes and costs depend on specific facts, evidence, and circumstances. (Cost data: American Society of Plastic Surgeons-referenced averages.)
This is why the timing of a settlement matters so much. Insurers often press for a quick settlement before the full reconstructive picture is known, with a broad release attached. Once you sign that release, you generally cannot come back for the cost of a surgery or complication that appears later, even if your injuries worsen. The largest part of a facial-injury recovery is frequently the care that has not happened yet.
What this means for you: settling before a treating surgeon has projected the full course of reconstruction can leave the most expensive years of your care unpaid. The future-care number is one you build with medical documentation, and it usually arrives later than the insurer’s first offer.
How Insurers Discount Facial Injuries, and How That’s Countered
Facial injuries are valuable, which is exactly why they draw specific tactics from the other side. Recognizing them is half of countering them.
| The Tactic | What It Looks Like | The Reality |
|---|---|---|
| The “cosmetic” discount | Treating scarring, dental work, or facial repair as elective or cosmetic to lower its value | A repair that restores chewing, vision, breathing, or speech is medically necessary, not cosmetic, and that functional purpose is what supports the claim’s value |
| Premature settlement | A fast offer with a broad release before reconstruction is complete | A release usually closes the door on future surgeries and complications; the full cost is often not yet known when the first offer arrives |
| The recorded statement | A friendly early call asking how you feel or what you were doing | Recorded answers are evidence; “I’m feeling better” can be replayed to argue the injury was minor |
| Comparative-fault inflation | Exaggerating your share of fault in the crash, fall, or incident | Nevada bars recovery only if your fault is greater than the other parties’ combined fault; inflating your share is a way to push you over that line |
| The pre-existing-condition argument | Blaming a prior dental problem or old injury for current damage | Under the eggshell-plaintiff doctrine, a defendant takes you as they find you; a pre-existing condition does not eliminate liability for new harm caused by the incident |
Bottom line: the through-line in every one of these is the same: make the injury look smaller, faster. The counter is documentation that shows the harm is functional, permanent, and tied to the incident.
Who Is Liable, and How Nevada Law Affects Your Recovery
Facial trauma shows up across very different kinds of cases, and the path to recovery depends on how the injury happened:
- Vehicle crashes. Airbag deployment, windshield and steering-wheel impact, and motorcycle and pedestrian collisions are common sources of facial and dental injury.
- Premises and falls. A fall on an unsafe surface can fracture facial bones and teeth. A property owner owes everyone lawfully on the property a duty of reasonable care under the circumstances: Nevada long ago abandoned the older “highest duty” tiers in favor of one unified standard (Foster v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 291 P.3d 150 (Nev. 2012)).
- Assaults. A punch or blow to the face commonly causes the jaw, orbital, and dental injuries described above; depending on the facts, a third party such as a property owner may also bear responsibility.
- Dog bites. Facial bites, which fall heavily on children, frequently cause scarring and tissue loss. The bite injury is covered here, but the specific liability rules for dog attacks are handled on our Las Vegas dog bite lawyers page.
Two Nevada rules shape almost every facial-injury recovery:
Comparative negligence. Nevada follows a modified comparative-negligence rule. Under NRS 41.141, your own negligence does not bar recovery as long as it “was not greater than” the negligence of the parties you are seeking recovery from, commonly described as the 51% bar. Your fault is weighed against the combined negligence of all defendants, and any recovery is reduced by your share. This is why an insurer’s effort to inflate your fault is not just argument: it can directly cut, or even eliminate, what you recover.
The eggshell-plaintiff doctrine. A defendant takes the injured person as they find them. If a prior dental condition or an old facial injury made you more vulnerable to serious harm, that does not reduce the defendant’s responsibility for the new injury their conduct caused.
Two related injuries deserve their own attention. A blow strong enough to fracture facial bones can also cause a concussion or traumatic brain injury, which is screened and valued separately; see our Las Vegas brain injury lawyers page. And facial burns carry their own scarring and disfigurement analysis, covered on our Las Vegas burn injury lawyers page. Facial fractures themselves are core to this page, though the general mechanics of broken-bone claims are covered in more depth on our broken bone injury page. Facial, jaw, and dental trauma is one part of the broader landscape of catastrophic injury claims and of personal injury claims in Nevada generally.
What to Look For and Ask Before You Decide
Once you understand that the value is in the permanent and future harm, you can judge whether someone is equipped to handle it. These are questions worth asking any firm you talk to; they are drawn from what this kind of claim actually requires:
- Ask how they handle future medical costs. A serious facial injury is valued largely on care that has not happened yet. Listen for whether they work with treating surgeons and life-care or cost projections, not just the bills in hand.
- Ask how they prove disfigurement. Because Nevada has no automatic figure, the answer should involve building a record (photographs over time, permanence opinions, and testimony), not a quoted “average.”
- Watch for pressure to settle quickly. A fast settlement usually serves the insurer’s timeline, not your reconstruction timeline. The right approach waits until the future-care picture is documented.
- Ask how they address fault and pre-existing conditions. Because comparative fault and prior conditions are exactly where facial claims are attacked, a clear plan for both is a good sign.
A short consultation will tell you where your claim stands on each of these, before any deadline or settlement decision is made.
How Long You Have to File
In Nevada, you generally have two years from the date of the injury to file a personal-injury lawsuit (NRS 11.190(4)(e)). Miss that window and a court will, in most cases, refuse to hear the claim no matter how strong it is. The deadline is firm, and it runs while you are still treating. Because some evidence (surveillance footage, an unrepaired vehicle, a property’s condition at the time) can disappear long before two years pass, the practical window to preserve a strong claim is often much shorter than the legal one.
What this means for you: waiting until reconstruction is finished to look into your legal options can run out the clock. You can pursue the claim while your treatment continues; you do not have to choose between healing and protecting your rights.
If You Were Injured in Las Vegas
With over 40 years as a personal injury attorney, Jack Bernstein understands how facial, jaw, and dental injuries are undervalued by insurers who treat lasting scarring and future reconstruction as “cosmetic” rather than as the permanent, functional harm they are. Jack Bernstein Injury Lawyers is personally involved in every case and has recovered over $500 million in verdicts and settlements for injured Nevadans. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. If you or a family member suffered facial fractures, dental loss, a jaw or TMJ injury, or permanent scarring in a crash, fall, assault, or dog bite, our firm offers a free consultation to evaluate the full value of your claim, including the reconstruction ahead and the lasting change to your appearance, and to make sure no deadline or premature settlement costs you that value. Because Nevada’s two-year filing deadline runs while you are still treating, it is worth knowing where you stand early. Call (702) 633-3333. No fees unless we win.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is facial scarring really worth money in a Nevada injury claim?
Yes. Permanent, noticeable scarring is compensable in Nevada as part of your non-economic damages, alongside pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. It is not a separate line on the verdict form, but it is a recognized loss proven with photographs, medical records of permanence, and testimony about its physical and emotional impact.
Should I wait until my reconstruction is finished before filing a claim?
No. Nevada’s filing deadline is generally two years from the date of injury, and it does not pause while you treat. You can pursue a claim while your reconstruction continues, and in fact, settling before the full course of future surgery is documented can forfeit the cost of that care.
The insurance company called my facial injury “cosmetic.” Is that right?
Often not. A procedure that restores chewing, vision, breathing, or speech is medically necessary, not cosmetic. Calling it cosmetic is a common way to lower the value of a claim; the functional purpose of the repair is what supports its real worth.
Can I still recover if I was partly at fault for the accident?
Possibly. Under Nevada’s modified comparative-negligence rule (NRS 41.141), you can recover as long as your fault was not greater than the combined fault of the parties you are claiming against, though your recovery is reduced by your share. If your fault is greater, recovery is barred, which is why insurers often try to inflate it.
Does a pre-existing dental problem hurt my claim?
Not by itself. Under the eggshell-plaintiff doctrine, a defendant takes you as they find you. A prior condition that made you more vulnerable to serious injury does not relieve the defendant of responsibility for the new harm their conduct caused.
What does it cost to hire a lawyer for a facial injury claim?
Jack Bernstein Injury Lawyers works on a contingency-fee basis (no fees unless we win) and offers a free consultation to evaluate your situation.
