• 28-year-old Melissa Bryon from Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, has lost a tooth and will lose another after her local dentists failed to treat decay and perform adequate root canal treatment
• Miss Bryon almost lost a third tooth unnecessarily after one of her dentists referred her to hospital for the extraction of a perfectly healthy tooth
• £20,000 received in compensation
Between 2012 and 2013, Miss Bryon visited Dr Kiran Dubb and Dr Garima Sinha of Hill Street Dental Practice in Burton-on Trent for regular check-ups. Miss Bryon visited both dentists on a number of occasions over the years she was there as a patient but had no concerns about her treatment.
“I wasn’t worried about the treatment that I was getting from Dr Dubb or Dr Sinha,” Miss Bryon explained. “But you put your trust in your dentist and expect them to treat you when there is a problem.”
However, problems began to emerge for Miss Bryon in 2013 when she visited Dr Dubb, complaining of severe pain. Dr Dubb noted inflammation around her wisdom tooth and was prescribed antibiotics.
“It was so painful,” Miss Bryon said. “I went to see Dr Dubb and he gave me the medication I needed. It seemed straightforward enough at the time.”
Unfortunately for Miss Bryon the pain did not go away and she was back at the practice not long after, where she saw Dr Sinha who prescribed more antibiotics. Miss Bryon returned later that month, still in unbearable pain. Dr Dubb noted that it was the impaction of her wisdom tooth that was causing her pain and referred her to hospital for an extraction. Dr Dubb also performed root canal treatment on the tooth on the other side of the one that had been causing her pain.
“I was a little nervous about having the tooth extracted,” Miss Bryon recalled. “But it was only my wisdom tooth so I was keen to have it taken out if it meant that the pain would stop. I was pleased to be getting the treatment that I needed to get it sorted once and for all.”
However upon examination at the hospital following her referral, the dental surgeon informed Miss Bryon that the wisdom tooth was not what was causing pain to the neighbouring tooth and the problem tooth was in fact, the one that Dr Dubb has performed root canal treatment on. Unfortunately, for Miss Bryon, x-rays carried out at the hospital revealed that the root canal treatment was not done properly.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Miss Bryon stated. “I had gone through so much already thinking that I was nearing the end of my problems, and it was all for nothing. Thanks to Dr Dubb I almost had a tooth unnecessarily extracted – that was the biggest shock of all.”
Appalled by the treatment she received from her local dentists, Miss Bryon decided to visit a private dentist following her hospital appointment. Upon examination, the new dentist revealed to Miss Bryon that the tooth Dr Dubb performed on had fractured and would need extracting. He also informed her of gross decay at another tooth that would also need treating.
“Things just went from bad to worse,” Miss Bryon said. “Until then I didn’t realise just how much damage they had done to my teeth. Thanks to the poor root canal I’ve lost a tooth and all because someone didn’t do their job properly.”
“I felt so let down,” Miss Bryon commented. “I now have to to undergo more treatment to make up for the mistakes that they have made. It’s just so unfair.”
The Dental Law Partnership commented, “The distress our client experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentists had identified problems and provided adequate treatment in the first place, then her dental problems could have been avoided. We hope the compensation received helps to pay for the corrective treatment that is now required.”