- 26-year-old Miss Oluwafeyisayo Awosika suffered years of severe tooth pain after her dentist failed to diagnose and treat decay in three of her teeth
- Further investigation by the Dental Law Partnership revealed that the loss of her tooth and multiple future restorative treatments could have been avoided
- £11,000 awarded in compensation for the poor treatment, which caused difficulty eating, disturbed sleep, and multiple unpaid work absences
Miss Oluwafeyisayo Awosika, a 26-year-old housing contractor from Rainham, Essex, has been awarded £11,000 by her former dentist with the help of specialist dental negligence solicitors the Dental Law Partnership. The payment was awarded after her dentists failed to diagnose and treat decay in three teeth for years, resulting in severe pain and the loss of a tooth. This caused difficulty eating and drinking, pain when speaking, disturbed sleep and multiple days off work unpaid.
Miss Awosika was a patient of Dr Kamran Aval at Elm Park Dental Surgery in Hornchurch, Essex, from 2008. After having routine checkups with another dentist and Dr Aval for a couple of years, she visited Dr Aval in December 2016 when her tooth cracked, and was dealing with pain.Dr Aval took an X-ray but told her there was nothing wrong and gave Miss Awosika a filling. Following the filling the pain continued, and she went back in October 2019 with a toothache, and Dr Aval placed another filling. She then returned in March 2023 as her lower right mouth was still in pain, but Dr Aval just gave her fluoride toothpaste and antibiotics.
“I was so frustrated because I knew something wasn’t right all these years, so I booked an urgent private appointment at a different practice a couple of months later in May 2023. I went to three different dentists over the space of a few months as my pain was so severe that I couldn’t sleep,” Miss Awosika explained. “I was told I urgently needed root canal treatment in my upper right tooth, but by then the decay had been left so long that the tooth couldn’t be saved. In February 2024 the tooth eventually had to be extracted.”
“They also found I had multiple cavities that Dr Aval at Elm Park Dental Surgery had never picked up on. I couldn’t believe how much decay had been missed. Things only got worse from there. I’ve now been told I’ll need implants and more invasive treatment on two of my lower right teeth too as they have extensive decay that went unchecked by Dr Aval,” Miss Awosika recalled.
Frustrated with the experiences she had gone through, Miss Awosika contacted the Dental Law Partnership in 2023. Further analysis revealed the full extent of the poor dental treatment she received, which has resulted in the loss of a tooth, and the need for complex restorative care in future, including further extractions, all of which could have been avoided.
“The impact of this whole experience has been devastating. The pain was unbearable at times. I couldn’t sleep properly, eating was difficult, and I had to take painkillers just to get through the day. I had to take so much sick leave from work too, so it affected me financially too,” Miss Awosika explained. “It’s really affected my mental health and I’m constantly anxious about losing more teeth in the future.”
Rebecca McVety of the Dental Law Partnership commented: “The distress and pain our client has experienced were completely unnecessary. If the dentists involved had provided more satisfactory treatment, her problems could have been avoided.”
The Dental Law Partnership took on Miss Awosika’s case in 2023. The case was successfully settled in June 2025 when Miss Awosika was paid £11,000 in an out of court settlement. The dentists involved did not admit liability. Any patients who believe they may have received negligent dental care can use the Dental Law Partnership’s compensation calculator to see the likelihood of a successful claim and how much they could receive in compensation. Alternatively, get in touch with us to have a no obligation discussion about your potential claim.