Ms Claire Shorrock, a 38-year-old teaching assistant and mum from Fulwood, Preston, has been awarded £14,500 by two former dentists with the help of specialist dental negligence solicitors the Dental Law Partnership. The payment was awarded after multiple dental errors led to hospitalisation during a routine root canal appointment, which caused significant distress and discomfort for Ms Shorrock and her family and have had long lasting effects on Ms Shorrock’s face.
Ms Shorrock was a patient at Deepdale Dental Centre, Preston, between 2008 and 2020. Whilst there, she was primarily treated by Dr Michael Hamer, and during the pandemic she was treated by his replacement, Dr Viktoriya Snak. “Deepdale was my long-term practice and I always made an effort to attend every six months,” Ms Shorrock recalled. “Over the years with Dr Hamer, I was given a number of routine treatments. In 2019, I had persistent issues with one of my upper teeth where a filling fell out and then the replacement crown also failed, and I experienced regular infections in the tooth. This began to make me worry about the quality of the treatment I’d received,” Ms Shorrock explained.
“The next year, I was advised by Dr Snak that I needed to have a root canal to treat a tooth where decay had developed, and I attended an appointment with her in October 2020 to have the treatment, which is where the experience turned into a true dental nightmare,” Ms Shorrock recalled. “As soon as Dr Snak started drilling into my tooth, I was hit by an overwhelming bleach smell and started experiencing shooting pain in my face. It was absolutely unbearable and I couldn’t help screaming. Dr Snak thought I had gone into anaphylactic shock as my face started swelling so quickly, and I was sent to hospital in an ambulance.”
“I was kept in hospital overnight where I was unable to eat because the pain and swelling was so severe, and the hospital team established that it hadn’t been anaphylactic shock – I’d had a severe burn reaction to the sodium hypochlorite solution the dentist had been using. The bleach solution had entered my tissue because the required preventative guards and checks had not been made by the dentist,” Ms Shorrock recounted. “I had to go home the next day with my face still extremely swollen, which was the worst thing ever as my young children, one of whom is autistic, found my face terrifying and I was reduced to wearing a Covid mask at home to hide the swelling.”
“My top lip remained numb for a couple of weeks, but once the numbness wore off I was left with constant pain from infection which reduced me to only eating slimming shakes, and my lip has been permanently altered since,” Ms Shorrock explained.
Devastated with the experiences she had gone through, Ms Shorrock contacted the Dental Law Partnership in 2020. Further analysis revealed multiple dental errors under Dr Hamer and Dr Snak’s treatment. Had Dr Hamer provided better treatment, the progression of decay would have been avoided, which would have meant the root canal treatment that caused so much distress would have never been necessary. Had Dr Snak provided a more satisfactory root canal treatment, with the appropriate guards and preparation in place, the hypochlorite injury and subsequent hospitalisation would have also been avoided. Furthermore, decay that was left untreated ultimately led to the loss of two teeth which had to be extracted following this ordeal, and Ms Shorrock is likely to lose at least two further teeth in the future and may require four implants.
“I still have nightmares about my hospital experience and feel extremely nervous about attending the dentist now. The whole experience has affected me so much,” Ms Shorrock explained. “I can feel my altered lip every time I talk, my speech has changed and I am still dealing with multiple dental issues caused by Dr Hamer and Dr Snak’s errors, including the gaps left in my mouth following the extractions which will require costly implants.”
Tim Armitage of the Dental Law Partnership commented: “The significant distress and pain our client has experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentists involved had provided more satisfactory treatment, her problems could have been avoided.”
The Dental Law Partnership took on Ms Shorrock’s case in 2020. The case was finally settled against both dentists in December 2023 when Ms Shorrock was paid a total of £14,500 in an out of court settlement. Neither dentist admitted liability. Any patients who believe they may have received negligent dental care should visit The Dental Law Partnership.