Biggleswade teenager faces dentistry bills after dentist damages teeth

A teenager faces dentistry bills after a dentist damaged her teeth while removing braces reports the Biggleswade Chronicle.

Morgan Bainbridge, 17, of Biggleswade has been awarded £34,000 in an out-of-court settlement after enamel was removed from her teeth three years ago.

Morgan sued Dr Konstantinos Tzamalas, a locum dentist from Smiles Orthodontics Practice, after sustaining damage whilst having her fixed braces removed. She now faces a lifetime of restorative treatment to her teeth.

Morgan’s father Graham said: “Morgan was 14 at the time and she had already had braces fitted for more than 18 months without any problems.

“It was just a routine appointment and we did not realise that anything had gone wrong until we looked at Morgan’s four front teeth when we got home.

“The surfaces of the teeth appeared to be slightly rippled and translucent and they had never looked like that before.”

Morgan was later examined by a different dentist and he confirmed that a significant amount of enamel had been removed from the teeth.

Further inspection by an orthodontist revealed that Morgan had sustained enamel damage to ten of her upper teeth and five of her lower teeth.

Graham added: “She will now need extensive treatment, including crowns and veneers for the rest of her life.

“The crowns and veneers that will be required will need replacing every 10 years and they can cost up to £1,000 per tooth.”

Daniel Kinnear, Morgan’s lawyer from dental negligence law firm the Dental Law Partnership said: “A mistake like this really is unacceptable. My client underwent 20 months of orthodontic treatment only to have this damage occur at the last hurdle. The dentist’s failures have left my 17 year old client facing a lifetime of treatment.”

Graham said: “This has been very upsetting and it’s hard to know that my daughter will spend her life paying for Dr Tzamalas’ mistake but we’re glad this is finally settled and the money will go towards paying for the treatment that Morgan needs both now and in the future.”

Dr Tzamalas has not admitted liability.