MAN LEFT IN EXCRUTIATING PAIN AND LOSES TOOTH AFTER LOCAL DENTIST BOTCHES IMPLANT TREATMENT

• 35-year-old Mr Ajit Panesar from Henley, Oxfordshire, left in severe pain and loses tooth after local dentist botches implant treatment
• Dentist did not wait for bone graft to heal before fitting the implants
• £7,000 received in compensation

Mr Ajit Panesar, a 35-year-old from Henley, Oxfordshire, who is between jobs, has won £7,000 in compensation from his local dentist with the help of specialist dental negligence solicitors, the Dental Law Partnership. The dentist’s failure to use reasonable skill and care when fitting  implants caused My Panesar severe pain, infections, and led to the eventual removal of one of the implants.

In 2014, Mr Panesar visited Dr George Theodoropoulos of the Damira Dental Studio in Henley, Oxfordshire. He had lost a dental bridge and needed a front tooth extracting in 2013, and was keen to have an implant fitted to close a gap left between his front teeth. Mr Panesar thought he was in safe hands but unfortunately this turned out not to be the case.

“I needed an implant so visited Dr Theodoropoulos,” Mr Panesar explained. “I trusted him as a professional who’d do a good job. I thought an implant was a fairly routine procedure for a dentist, so I wasn’t worried.”

Dr Theodoropoulos placed two implants then carried out a bone graft. Later that year, he also fitted a crowns to the implants. But it wasn’t long before Mr Panesar realised something wasn’t right.

“Firstly, I wasn’t happy with the appearance of the crowns,” Mr Panesar said. “One was clearly shorter than the other. But to make matters worse, I developed a painful infection at one of the teeth. It was horrible. But when I told Dr Theodoropoulos he didn’t seem very interested in helping me.”

Mr Panesar’s dental problems continued with one of his implants becoming loose and painful.

“It was beyond a joke,” Mr Panesar said. “The problems were never ending and I seemed to be spending my life at the dentist. In the end the implant had to be surgically removed. I was left without a tooth for months which was highly embarrassing. I now have to wear a denture which I am very upset about – I shouldn’t be wearing a denture at the age of 35.”

Mr Panesar contacted the Dental Law Partnership. Analysis of his dental records revealed the extent of Dr Theodoropoulos’s poor treatment. The dentist had not waited for the bone graft he provided to heal before fitting the implants.. All this led to the continuous problems Mr Panesar experienced.

“The whole ordeal has been really traumatic,” Mr Panesar said. “In addition to having to wear a temporary denture, I’ve wasted so much time and endured endless sleepless nights because of the pain. To think it’s all because Dr Theodoropoulos didn’t do his job properly makes me so angry. On so many occasions he just fobbed me off and made it feel like the problems were my fault. Sadly, I have lost faith in all dentists.”

Christine Salter of The Dental Law Partnership commented: “The distress our client experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentist had provided adequate treatment in the first place the pain and damage caused to our client’s teeth could have been avoided. We hope the compensation received goes some way towards paying for the corrective treatment required.”

The Dental Law Partnership took on Mr Panesar’s case in February 2016 .The case was successfully settled in May 2017 when the dentist paid £7,000 in an out of court settlement. The dentist did not admit liability.