9th September 2019 – Our client, a lady from the South East in her mid-60’s, attended her Dentist in May 2017 after experiencing pain on chewing in her UL4 tooth. She was informed it was cracked, could not be saved and would require removal. She underwent the extraction 2 days later and despite the fact that the UL4 tooth came out in numerous pieces she was reassured by the Dentist that the whole of the tooth had been removed.
Later that same evening our client experienced a dull ache in her mouth which she but put down to the procedure. This ache did not diminish however and about 10 days later she began to notice a foul smell and
bad taste in her mouth. She attended her GP practice repeatedly and was prescribed antibiotics for what was believed to be acute sinusitis.
As her symptoms did not resolve our client returned to the Dentist who x-rayed her mouth and determined there was evidence of infection and advised the continued use of antibiotics.
After 6 months of unpleasant nasal discharge, phlegm, under eye discomfort, and associated stress she was eventually seen by an ENT doctor, who diagnosed a oroantral fistula causing chronic sinusitis and recommended an urgent CT scan. The CT taken in September 2017 confirmed that a piece of broken tooth from the original extraction remained in situ. Our client therefore had to undergo an operation to extract the retained tooth root. She has since recovered.
Having obtained expert evidence which confirmed the Dentist’s breach of duty in failing to identify and remove the piece of retained root during the extraction, a Letter of Claim was submitted alongside an offer to settle.
The Defendant’s legal representatives then responded with a counter offer without any explanation or analysis of the case and settlement negotiations were eventually concluded at the sum of £5,500.
Francesca Beach, Clinical Negligence Solicitor, who had conduct of the claim, commented:
“Although the Defendant’s legal representatives failed to meaningfully engage with me throughout the pre-action process I am pleased with the outcome and hope my client can now put this matter behind her. I
thoroughly enjoyed working with this client and I wish her and her husband all the best for the future”.
If you or a member of your family believes you have a claim then please do not hesitate to phone us free on 0800 999 5585, request a call back or submit your case details.