Ms Leanna Painter, a 40-year-old chef from Lancing, West Sussex, has been awarded £8,500 by her former dental practice 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 at two teeth which ultimately lead to their loss, facial swelling, infections and severe pain.
Ms Painter was a patient of Bexhill Dental Clinic, Bexhill-On-Sea, 16 Ninfield Road, Bexhill, TN39 5AF between 2017 and 2019, which is owned and operated by Colosseum Dental UK Limited. “At a different practice I had one of my teeth extracted after suffering significant pain. However this didn’t alleviate the issues with the problematic root and my gum pain persisted. In 2017 I visited Colosseum Dentist, where everything continued to go wrong,” Ms Painter recalled.
“While being treated at Colosseum, my gum pain was so severe, I requested sedation when getting additional fillings,” Ms Painter explained. “They then diagnosed me with acute gum disease in November 2017 – sending me home with antibiotics and mouthwash to help.”
Things continued to get worse. In 2018 Ms Painter was having issues with two further teeth in her lower-right jaw. They placed a filling in one of them which fell out. They then re-filled it, but it was then lost yet again. This tooth got considerably worse over the years with infections, and it was eventually extracted in 2021 at the hospital. They also placed a filling in the second tooth but warned she could potentially lose that one too. That tooth was also removed in 2021 at a different dental clinic after it got infected.
“Between 2018 and 2021 the development of the infections were awful. I was in so much pain, my face became swollen, and I had a nasty taste in my mouth from infected pus,” Ms Painter recalled. After all these negative experiences Ms Painters trust in Colosseum’s advice was so damaged, she had no choice but to visit a new London-based practice.
Frustrated with the experiences she had gone through, Ms Painter contacted the Dental Law Partnership in 2020. Further analysis of her records revealed the extent of the poor dental treatment Ms Painter received at Colosseum Dentist Bexhill-On-Sea. Had decay in both of her teeth been diagnosed sooner, the loss of two teeth, facial swelling, infections and severe pain could have been avoided.
Speaking on the mental impacts of her dental negligence issues, Ms Painter said, “Since the age of 19 when I first had a tooth knocked out, I’ve been used to feeling somewhat self-conscious, but this entire ordeal has only made that worse. It’s so frustrating as I’ve always had good dental hygiene, and even now I still brush them three times a day. It’s been a shambles – from the rude dismissive attitudes of the surgery, to paying extra for a second opinion in London. Even now, there is still work to do on my teeth with several implants needed.”
Tim Armitage of the Dental Law Partnership commented: “The distress and pain our client has experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentists at the practice involved had provided more satisfactory treatment, her problems could have been avoided.”
The Dental Law Partnership took on Ms Painter’s case in 2020. The case was successfully settled in January 2025 when Ms Painter was paid £8,500 in an out of court settlement. The dental practice involved did not admit liability. Any patients who believe they may have received negligent dental care should contact us or check out or dental negligence calculator to see how much compensation could be owed.