• Ms R experienced severe episode of pain and sensitivity
• An infection in her tooth was left to spread which eventually led to its avoidable extraction
• £5,000 awarded in compensation
Ms R suffered multiple episodes of pain when her dentist failed to perform a root canal treatment properly, this meant many trips to the dentist, an untreated infection which was left to spread and the avoidable extraction of her tooth.
In November 2006 Ms R made an appointment with her dentist Dr W when her tooth has become chipped, her tooth has previously had root canal treatment at another dental practice.
By May 2007 our client started experiencing severe pain in her tooth and so she made another appointment to see her dentist. X-rays were taken and Dr W advised our client would need a re-root canal treatment to help with the pain in her tooth.
“ My dentist Dr W booked me in for a re-root canal treatment in a months’ time, I had already had a root canal procedure done before so I felt confident that everything would be fine because it’s a pretty common procedure and I trusted my dentist”
Our client attended for the root canal treatment a month later.
But the pain only continued to worsen.
“It got to the point that the pain was unbearable. There was pus seeping out of my tooth! I was unable to eat or drink without pain, my tooth was sensitive to touch and I had lost my confidence. I avoided smiling at all times”
Our client had had enough and made an appointment to see another dentist at a different practice.
There she was told that the re root canal treatment Dr W had performed was to a very poor standard and the root of her tooth had been perforated, due to this there had been an infection left to grow. The untreated infection had been causing the severe pain, sensitivity and oozing pus.
Our client was then told the tooth was so badly damaged it would need to be extracted.
Ms R decided to contact the Dental Law Partnership. Analysis of her dental records revealed that Ms R’s dentist had failed to use reasonable skill and care during the re- root canal treatment. This led to a severe infection and eventually led to the extraction of her tooth.
Nick Hampson of the Dental Law Partnership commented: “The distress and pain our client experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentist had carried out adequate treatment in the first place, all her problems could have been avoided.”
The Dental Law Partnership took on Ms R’s case in 2018. The case was successfully settled in 2020 when the dentist paid £5,000 in an out of court settlement. The dentist did not admit liability.
