Longstanding dental patient claims £18,000 for inadequate treatment

Our client, a 44 year old woman from the East Midlands, was awarded £18,000 in an out of court settlement after her dentist failed to identify that she was suffering from tooth decay and provided poor root canal treatments and fillings.

Mrs L first visited the defendant, Dr C, in June 1991 when X rays indicate that she did not have any tooth decay. She attended Dr C’s practice for regular appointments between 1991 and 2012.

During the 21 year period she had multiple fillings, 2 extractions and root canal treatments at 2 upper left teeth. Mrs L trusted Dr C’s dental expertise until she began to experience a lot of tooth ache and infection during the latter years.

In January 2012 Mrs L attended a different dentist as she was dubious of the care she was receiving from Dr C. She had had tooth ache for the past four years and her gums bled every time she brushed her teeth. The new dentist took several X rays which revealed that the root canal treatments Dr C had provided were of a very poor standard, and the fillings which had been placed over the years were also of a poor quality.

Mrs L was dismayed to discover the state that her teeth were in and that she was actually suffering from tooth decay. Her new dentist immediately commenced a course remedial treatment including root canal treatments, extractions and fillings.

While Mrs L lost a total of 4 teeth as a result of Dr C’s failings and underwent avoidable root canal treatment at 5 teeth, she was pleased with the assistance provided by the Dental Law Partnership in bringing a successful claim against him.

She said, “I can’t believe I have a received such poor care from my dentist of many years, but at least the damages will correct the poor dental work”.

Dr C neither admitted nor denied liability.

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