MISS ENGLAND CONTESTANT SUFFERS DENTAL NIGHTMARE AFTER DENTIST BOTCHES TREATMENT
• 29-year-old April Gilmartin, from Blackpool, Lancashire, suffered years of agony and embarrassment after her dentist botched root canal treatment and veneers
• The former Miss England contestant’s entry into beauty pageants was affected by her ongoing suffering and she had to wear a mask at work to hide embarrassing bad breath caused by infection
• To make matters worse veneers were never required in the first place
• £30,000 awarded in compensation
April Gilmartin, a 29-year-old beautician from Blackpool, Lancashire, has won £30,000 in compensation from her local dentist with the help of specialist dental negligence solicitors, the Dental Law Partnership. Miss Gilmartin’s poor root canal treatment and veneers left her in so much pain she found it difficult to eat and sleep and she lost her confidence. A dental infection also developed that caused a bad odour, forcing Miss Gilmartin to wear a mask when undertaking beauty treatments for her clients. The Miss England contestant also felt highly self-conscious, which affected her performance at beauty pageants.
Miss Gilmartin first visited Dr John Jordan at the Dental Practice at 13 Church Road, in Lytham St Annes near Blackpool, Lancashire, in August 2014.
“I’d banged my front teeth in an accident, so made an appointment with Dr Jordan,” Miss Gilmartin said. “One tooth had started to turn black, so something needed to be done. Also, I was a Miss England contestant at the time so was doing a lot of beauty pageants and couldn’t smile confidently.”
Dr Jordan told Miss Gilmartin that the best course of action was to undertake root canal treatment and fit four veneers, which he said was necessary to ensure her front teeth matched in colour.
“I automatically went ahead with the treatment,” Miss Gilmartin explained. “You naturally trust your dentist don’t you? I thought it would be routine.”
But the following month Miss Gilmartin’s veneers fell out leaving her with extremely sensitive teeth.
“I was a little concerned when they fell out and the pain was very uncomfortable,” Miss Gilmartin recalled. “But Dr Jordan was scheduled to fit more permanent veneers about a week later. So I thought I’d give him the benefit of the doubt.”
But Mrs Gilmartin’s problems continued after the permanent veneers were fitted.
“Firstly, the colour was a dull white and didn’t match the rest of my teeth,” Mrs Gilmartin said. “The size and shape of the veneers felt wrong, and they felt loose as well. I went back to complain to Dr Jordan twice. He eventually fitted brackets and wires with elastic to my teeth, which he said would help their alignment. Other than that, he said everything was fine and that pain was normal while the veneers settled.”
But Miss Gilmartin’s dental issues did not end here.
“My teeth continued to be very sensitive and painful,” Miss Gilmartin said. “I was in so much pain I couldn’t eat a burger or bite into an apple, and I couldn’t sleep properly. My gums were bleeding and started to omit an embarrassing odour. I’m a beautician so I’m always in close proximity to my patients – I ended up wearing a mask on occasions so they couldn’t smell my breath. It was so embarrassing. I even cancelled appointments because of the pain which led to me working exceptionally long hours.
“One veneer in particular felt loose. I returned to see Dr Jordan again and again but he kept reassuring me that everything was normal. The veneers were still an off white colour too, but I just started to accept it. To top it off I was in the final year of the Miss England competition at the time which was really important to me. But I wasn’t my normal self, I’d lost my self-confidence, so I couldn’t put everything into it. My mood was badly affected by the constant pain and worrying. It ruined my chances in the competition,” she continued.
Miss Gilmartin contacted the Dental Law Partnership. Analysis of her dental records revealed that Dr Jordan had indeed failed to fit her veneers properly, for which her teeth had not been properly prepared and were different lengths. The dentist had also botched root canal treatment mainly because he had failed to take sufficient X-rays before undertaking the procedure, and because the root filling was short. To make matters worse Miss Gilmartin never needed four veneers in the first place. Root canal treatment and a crown at her damaged front tooth would have adequately addressed the problem.
“It makes me so angry,” Miss Gilmartin said. “I went through this hell because my dentist wasn’t doing his job properly. Worse still, I never even needed the veneers at all. They will now need to be regularly replaced for the rest of my life, which Dr Jordan never explained before he fit them. I’ve also had to endure re-root canal treatment and endless dental appointments. It’s unbelievable really.”
Jonathan Owen of The Dental Law Partnership commented: “The distress and pain our client experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentist had recommended and undertaken the adequate treatment in the first place, all her suffering could have been avoided. We hope the compensation she receives goes some way towards paying for the additional treatment required.”
The Dental Law Partnership took on Miss Gilmartin’s case in 2017. The case was successfully settled in 2018 when the dentist paid a total of £30,000 in an out of court settlement. The dentist did not admit liability.