Ms Joanne Russell, a 52-year-old construction company secretary from near Colchester, Essex, has been awarded £12,500 by a former dentist with the help of specialist dental negligence solicitors the Dental Law Partnership. The payment was awarded after Ms Russell was forced to undergo extensive remedial work as a result of a substandard crown, defective fillings and untreated dental decay enduring two extractions, which caused weeks of pain and discomfort, after teeth became irreparably decayed as a result of avoidable dental errors.
Ms Russell was treated by Dr Isra Mujahid at South Benfleet Dental Care, 3-5 Thundersley Park Road, South Benfleet, Essex, between 2017 and 2019. “I’ve always made an effort to look after my teeth and attended regular dental appointments,” Ms Russell explained. “I thought you should be able to believe what your dentist says and trust that things are okay, unless they tell you otherwise.”
Between 2020 and 2022 Ms Russell was treated by another dentist at the practice. “During that time, I began to suffer a number of issues, including a broken filling that had previously been placed by Dr Mujahid and a separate broken tooth,” Ms Russell recalled.
In March 2022, Ms Russell saw yet another dentist at the same practice and the true extent of her dental issues became apparent. “I was completely taken aback to be told there were multiple further issues with my teeth where previous work had been done so badly. I’d struggled to floss between two of my teeth and found out it was because glue had been left there from a filling and one of the teeth was also fractured.”
“I’ve subsequently needed two separate tooth extractions because my teeth were irreversibly decayed. Both of these extractions caused weeks of bruising and swelling afterwards which affected what I could eat,” Ms Russell recounted. “As a result, I’ve been left with multiple gaps in my mouth which require further remedial work, but I suffer a lot from dental anxiety, and I’m really scared about going through even more treatment to install implants to replace the lost teeth.”
Frustrated with the experiences she had gone through, Ms Russell contacted the Dental Law Partnership in 2023 after it became apparent she was going to lose teeth as a result of the dental treatment she had received. Further analysis of her records revealed errors going back as far as 2017 where decay had failed to be treated. This caused irreversible damage and resulted in the loss of two existing teeth. As a result, Ms Russell is likely to lose further teeth, requiring costly implant installation, as well as further root canal treatments to manage the decay that was left to progress.
“I’ve found the whole experience extremely stressful and painful,” Ms Russell explained. “Before I was treated by Dr Mujahid at Together Dental, I had never needed any dental work. Over the last few years it’s felt like every treatment I’ve needed was as a result of the bad care I received.”
Rebecca McVety of the Dental Law Partnership commented: “The distress and pain our client has experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentist involved had provided more satisfactory treatment, her problems could have been avoided.”
The Dental Law Partnership took on Ms Russell’s case in 2023. The case was successfully settled in March 2024 when Ms Russell was paid £12,500 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 The Dental Law Partnership.