Miss Courtney Monksfield, a 20-year-old archaeology and forensics student at Canterbury University from Faversham, Kent, has been awarded £20,000 by a former dental practice with the help of specialist dental negligence solicitors the Dental Law Partnership after a dentist recorded the wrong tooth in an extraction referral letter leading to the incorrect tooth being extracted. The error has caused years of dental issues to rectify the unnecessary gap created.
Miss Monksfield was a patient at the dental practice 100-102 North Down Road, Cliftonville Margate, owned by Richard Flanaghan & Associates Limited, for orthodontic work between 2015 and 2018. In December 2015, the dentist advised she would need to undergo two extractions to rectify overcrowding in her top jaw, which they would submit a hospital referral for. “Over the next few months, my mum had to chase the dental practice a number of times as we heard nothing about the extractions,” Miss Monksfield recalled. “Eventually, in December 2016 a referral for dental extractions was submitted to the hospital by the King Street Orthodontic practice in Canterbury which was owned by Richard Flanaghan & Associates Limited so I could continue with the process.”
However, unbeknownst to Miss Monksfield and her mother, the referral stated that one upper and one lower tooth needed to be removed, rather than the two upper teeth that should have been stated. Miss Monksfield attended hospital in May 2017 where her teeth were extracted under general anaesthetic.
“In my follow up appointment at My Dentist after the extractions, the error that had been made became apparent,” Miss Monksfield recalled. “I was so shocked when I realised a completely healthy tooth had been taken out. It was not a nice feeling and there were so many unknowns about what would happen next – I’d been left with a gap in my bottom jaw that shouldn’t have been there at all.”
After months of consultations, Miss Monksfield and her mother opted for her to undergo an operation which involved the extraction of another tooth which would be transplanted into the gap at the extraction site where the wrong tooth had been removed, which took place in October 2018, and for her to undergo lower brace therapy.
“For three months after this transplant surgery, I experienced numbness in my lower lip which meant I had to constantly drink through a straw to avoid dribbling, and also affected my diet,” Miss Monksfield explained. “I missed a lot of school to attend appointments – the whole experience was so disruptive.”
Horrified with the experiences she had gone through, Miss Monksfield and her mother contacted the Dental Law Partnership in July 2017. Further analysis revealed that not only had the dental practice’s referral note stated the wrong tooth to be extracted, which had led to the ongoing years of dental issues, but there were also multiple other errors in the referral letter.
“After going through all of this, the tooth that has been transplanted is unlikely to have a long term prognosis, as I’ve suffered infections and decay, and it’s likely I’ll need an implant in the future,” Miss Monksfield explained. “It disrupted a lot of my secondary school experience and was extremely disappointing to go through.”
Amanda Anson of the Dental Law Partnership commented: “The distress, pain and inconvenience our client has experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentist involved had provided the correct referral, her problems could have been avoided.”
The Dental Law Partnership took on Miss Monksfield’s case in 2017. The case was successfully settled in August 2023 when Miss Monksfield was paid £20,000 in an out of court settlement. The dental practice involved made a partial admission. Any patients who believe they may have received negligent dental care should visit The Dental Law Partnership.