Opinion
March 1, 1994
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Beatrice Burstein, J.).
In this action for dental malpractice, plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of liability through her expert witness. The witness said nothing of the applicable standard of care for treatment, did not know how the procedure was performed, did not set forth the manner in which defendant deviated from any standard, and did not explain how the injury was caused (see, Gibson v. D'Amico, 97 A.D.2d 905, lv denied 61 N.Y.2d 603). Nor was the alleged negligence obvious and within the competence of lay persons (see, supra, at 906). The burden of proving causation remained with plaintiff, and it is of no moment that defendant did not offer an explanation as to other possible causes of plaintiff's injury (see, Mortensen v. Memorial Hosp., 105 A.D.2d 151, 158).
Concur — Murphy, P.J., Sullivan, Carro, Wallach and Tom, JJ.