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This article was published on July 27th, 2016
A woman has been left devastated after being told she had extensive and long standing gum disease and this meant that she must have nearly all her teeth removed. The patient took two dentists to court, one for reportedly failing to diagnose her with the disease which led to her drastic and painful situation and the other for advising her to have expensive procedures which were unlikely to be effective.
The patient claimed that she booked an emergency appointment with her dentist after two of her teeth felt loose. The dentist advised her that she had long standing gum disease and was advised that the treatment would be expensive and intrusive. She was shocked at this diagnosis as she had attended regular dental check-ups for the last 28 years.
She said, “I couldn’t believe it because I’d had regular check-ups with …… himself for the past 28 years, and he’d never once told me I had gum disease” .
She then approached another dentist for a second opinion and was advised to have a bridge fitted to her upper set of teeth which this dentist carried out. The same dentist then recommended a bridge for the bottom teeth which he also carried out, but there was a problem.
The patient said, “During the preparation of the bridges my loose teeth had been removed and replaced, but there was clearly a problem. I felt severe soreness, and extreme pain in an upper right tooth.”
After her procedure she was experiencing severe pain in her upper mouth and an X-ray revealed an abscess in the gum underneath one of her upper teeth. The problematic tooth was extracted but a full 3D imaging x-ray revealed severe bone loss and gum disease meaning she will still lose most of her teeth despite her expensive and painful efforts to keep them.
The woman has reported the dentist who completed the bridges to the General Dental Council and as a result he has been suspended for 12 months following a hearing but she is still left with the prospect of having to wear dentures as there may not be enough bone density to have implants.
She secured an out of court settlement pay-out from both her initial dentist who failed to diagnose the gum disease and the new dentist who performed ineffective procedures to save her teeth. Both dentists deny liability.
99% of the time you can trust your dentist to give you good quality care but sometimes things go wrong and you need specialist advice. At Thorneycroft Solicitors we have specialist solicitors who have experience dealing with dental claims if a dentist or dental practitioner has caused you necessary pain and discomfort.
We offer a free initial interview in order to review your specific circumstances and assess the viability of your clinical negligence claim.
To speak to one of our specialist team call us now on FREEPHONE 0800 093 2030, or complete our simple enquiry form and we can call you back at a time to suit you.