Mr Kai Orley, an 18-year-old wind turbine engineer apprentice from Stockton-on-Tees, has been awarded £11,000 with the help of specialist dental negligence solicitors the Dental Law Partnership after his secondary school years were blighted by poor orthodontic consultations and treatment.
Mr Orley was treated by Dr Andrew Zaranko for orthodontic treatment at Belasis Dental Practice, in Billingham, between November 2016 and October 2020. “I first visited Dr Zaranko in Year 6 of primary school to discuss orthodontic work when I was 10-years-old,” Mr Orley recalled. “Tooth extractions were discussed, but Dr Zaranko thought I could proceed without them, and we started the orthodontic work properly in April 2017 when I was 11, and then in January 2018 I had a fixed brace installed.”
“Throughout 2018 and 2019, I attended appointments nearly every month to have coils and elastics fitted and adjusted, but it didn’t seem like my teeth had got any better at all,” Mr Orley recounted. “My front four teeth gradually began to stick out, which had never been an issue before. Mum and I raised concerns about the lack of improvement but were constantly told by Dr Zaranko that it would get better – we just needed more time.”
In November 2020, concerned that the treatment had not made any progress despite going on for almost three and a half years, Mr Orley’s mother got in touch with another dentist for a second opinion. “At the new practice, we were told that I needed two teeth extracted – which is what Dr Zaranko had said we could proceed without doing. I had the teeth extracted and a new set of braces fitted by the new dentist, and my teeth began to improve. I finally had my braces taken off in April 2022, aged 16, more than five years after my initial treatment started,” Mr Orley explained.
Frustrated with the experiences he had gone through, Mr Orley and his mother contacted the Dental Law Partnership in November 2020. Further analysis highlighted a number of dental errors and revealed that, had Mr Orley received appropriate orthodontic treatment from the outset, his issues could have been resolved within 18 months and the anxiety and disruption he experienced during his teenage years could have been avoided.
“It was an extremely frustrating and traumatic experience that affected my mental health and my diet a lot throughout secondary school,” Mr Orley explained. “The retainers made me miserable as they were so painful and uncomfortable. I constantly felt anxious about my teeth and I found it really hard to eat lunch at school for a time as I was in so much discomfort. I’m horrified when I think that this dentist could still be treating other patients incorrectly too.”
Heather Owen of the Dental Law Partnership commented: “The extended period of distress, pain and inconvenience our client has experienced at such a young age was unnecessary. If the dentist involved had provided the correct orthodontic treatment at the outset, then our client’s treatment would have been completed sooner and problems could have been significantly lessened.”
The Dental Law Partnership took on Mr Orley’s case in 2020. The case was successfully settled in November 2023 when Mr Orley was paid £11,000 in an out of court settlement. The dentist involved did not admit liability. Any patients who believe they may have received negligent dental care should visit dentallaw.co.uk.