Katherine Lake, a 57-year-old receptionist from Loughborough underwent a tooth extraction which left her mouth permanently numb.
Despite being told that extraction was necessary, it was later found out that if the decay had been treated promptly, the tooth could have been saved and the extraction avoided.
Mrs Lake had been a regular patient with Dr Rebecca Moss and Dr John Frazer Wanstall at YourSmile Dental Care in Loughborough.
She visited the practice complaining of toothache and was provided with fillings to try to help ease the pain. Unfortunately for Mrs Lake the treatment didn’t help as decay was left at the tooth and eventually, she had to have the tooth removed.
“I thought having the tooth removed would help get rid of the pain I had originally been dealing with. However, it didn’t seem to help at all. It was three days after the extraction that I knew something really wasn’t right,”
Shockingly, after the procedure the numbness hadn’t worn off.
“The constant ache on the left side of my face continued and developed into an infection which caused a lot of pain and I need antibiotics to recover. The numbness has remained and even now half of my lip is permanently affected so I have to use a straw when drinking and struggle with eating some foods.”
“Nothing can be done to correct the numbness as the extraction has permanently damaged the nerve endings in my mouth. The experience has seriously impacted my day-to-day life. I have difficulty eating and drinking and sometimes dribble without realising which makes public situations harder”
At the Dental Law Partnership, we took on Mrs Lake’s case in 2018 and found that her dentists failed to provide the correct preventative treatment when earlier signs of decay were present, meaning the extraction should not have been necessary. The avoidable tooth extraction her dentists carried out has left her mouth permanently numb and her face irreversibly altered.
“Smiling isn’t the same anymore and I feel very self-conscious about my face. I’ve had to undergo counselling to deal with the clinical trauma as the anxiety that now surrounds visiting the dentist is all-consuming and often disturbs my sleep.”
Nick Hampson settled the case in April 2022 when Mrs Lake was paid £19,000 in an out of court settlement.
If you feel as though you can relate to Katherine’s story and want to find out if you were a victim of dental negligence to us, you can contact us here.