Woman awarded £35,000 for dentist’s failure to treat gum disease

Our client, a 62 year old woman from the Midlands, has recently been awarded £35,000 in an out of court settlement after her dentist failed to diagnose and treat her gum disease condition.

Mrs O, who had attended the defendant’s practice approximately every six months between 1990 and 2009, successfully sued her dentist Dr B, after it was revealed that she had severe gum disease and was likely to lose multiple teeth.

Mrs O had attended the defendant’s practice in April 1997 and September 2000 with pain around her teeth and inflamed gums. Dr B had noted in her records in 1997 that she had acute gum disease, but did not provide any treatment apart from to continue with the scrape and polishes.

Left untreated the gum disease became worse and at an appointment in September 2002 radiographs showed that she had lost a lot of bone. Still unaware of the extent of her condition, Mrs O remained under Dr B’s care until August 2009.

At an examination with a new dentist in August 2009, Mrs O was immediately referred to a specialist who confirmed that she had lost a considerable amount of bone around her teeth. Under the specialist’s advice Mrs O underwent a full mouth disinfection and was prescribed antibiotics. The gum disease had rendered too much of her bone away and she was informed that several of her upper teeth and some of her lower teeth would need to be removed and would have to be replaced by implants.

While Dr B denied liability of his failure to treat Mrs O’s gum disease, the Dental Law Partnership successfully brought a case of dental negligence against him and Mrs C intends to use the damages to have her teeth bought back to health.

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