Case Study

Our client, a 17 year old girl from the Midlands, was awarded £15,500 in a court settlement after receiving faulty orthodontic treatment.

Miss A first attended the defendant, Dr B, in August 2007 when she was referred for orthodontic treatment by her regular dentist. A treatment plan was drawn up which included the proposed extraction of Miss A’s UL4 (fourth tooth along on the upper left side) due to overcrowding in the upper jaw. In a letter to Miss A’s dentist, Dr B made a mistake and requested Miss A’s dentist extract the UR4, (fourth tooth along on the upper right side), rather than UL4. In October 2007, the UR4 (the wrong tooth) was extracted.

Unaware of the mistake, Miss A went back to Dr B when braces were fitted. Dr B did not notice that the wrong tooth had been taken out and continued to treat Miss A between October 2007 and March 2009 without noticing or acknowledging the blunder.

In March 2009, Miss A’s brace fractured and after having it re-adjusted, she saw another orthodontist at the same practice. It was this new orthodontist who picked up on the error and noticed that the wrong tooth had been removed contrary to the original treatment plan.

The new dentist also noticed a range of other problems with the orthodontic treatment including too much space on her right side. After the treatment with Dr B, Miss A’s teeth were more misaligned than when she started, and as a result, she will have to undergo another course of orthodontic treatment and implants to correct it.

Dr B made no admission of liability for the substandard treatment, but the Dental Law Partnership was able to secure a settlement of £15,500 for Miss A.

Miss A said, “I can’t believe the dentist made such a shoddy mistake. When I started the treatment I had no idea we would end up suing my dentist but at least the damages will pay for corrective treatment”.

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