Heather Owen, Associate Director at the Dental Law Partnership, helped Mr O secure £20,000 compensation after a Hospital Trust left him with nerve damage following an extraction.
Mr O, from the West Midlands, started to experience a terrible pain at his tooth. This pain affect him during the day and also kept him awake at night. So like most people he booked an appointment with his dentist after the pain became too much.
He was advised by the dentist that his wisdom tooth was the cause of the problem and would need to be extracted. While this procedure can be complex it is not uncommon. His dentist gave him some anti-biotics and referred him to the hospital where the extraction was carried out.
Mr O said, “I understood from my dentist that a wisdom tooth extraction is a bit more complicated so when he advised to have it out at the hospital I thought I would be in the best hands.”
However this wasn’t the case. After the extraction Mr O started to experience numbness on the left side of his tongue. After a number of days the numbness still hadn’t subsided so Mr O decided to get back in touch with the hospital. They told him that sometimes this happened and it would resolve itself in time.
He commented, “I trusted them when they told me it would sort itself out! Unfortunately this wasn’t the case and now I’m left with permanent numbness!”
Due to the numbness Mr O now has a loss of taste and difficulty eating. It has had an impact on his speech and confidence in social situations. Due to a lack of care provided by the hospital his life has been greatly affected.
Unfortunately we see a number of cases similar to Mr O’s. We realise at DLP that starting a legal claim can be a daunting prospect, but we hope to make the process as easy as possibly for you. Our team of specialist will help you throughout the process to make sure it as stress free as possible.
If you feel like you have suffered dental negligence then don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can submit our online claim form or ring us on 0808 271 6955.
