Plaintiff appeals from a judgment of the Small Claims Part of the Civil Court, New York County, entered on or about September 23, 2004 after trial (Anil C. Singh, J.) in favor of defendant dismissing the action.

PER CURIAM:

Judgment entered on or about September 23, 2004 (Anil C. Singh, J.) affirmed, without costs.

The plaintiff's conceded failure to present competent medical evidence demonstrating that defendants departed from accepted dental procedure in placing a dental implant "too close to the tongue" was fatal to plaintiff's dental malpractice claim. The requirement that plaintiff's prima facie case include expert medical opinion evidence — a requirement which plaintiff expressly acknowledged by way of a pre-trial, so-ordered stipulation — may not be dispensed with merely because plaintiff chose to pursue his malpractice cause of action in the Small Claims Part of the Civil Court. "The 'informal and simplified' procedural rules generally applied in small claims practice (see CCA 1804) cannot be stretched beyond their [*2]breaking point to excuse a legal deficiency in a plaintiff's substantive case." (Ragosto v Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Auth., 173 Misc 2d 560, 561 [1997]; Streeter v Ackerman, 2003 NY Slip Op 51199[U].)

This constitutes the decision and order of the court.
Decision Date: September 22, 2005