25th November 2024 – Our client, a young woman, attended Hamstreet Dental Clinic, near Ashford, Kent, on 18.03.2022, for an appointment with a locum dentist Dr Neda Hussaini.
During a routine dental procedure, something fell to the back of our client’s throat.
Both the dentist and the dental nurse immediately forced her into an upright position. She started to choke and she was patted on the back and encouraged to cough.
Dr Hussaini then claimed that the offending item was a fraction of a tooth filling and that it had been swallowed safely and would pass through the digestive system without any problem.
However, later that day, our client received a phone call from the Clinic receptionist who disclosed that she had in fact swallowed a fitting bit for the dental drill.
Our client was taken to the William Harvey Hospital A&E department at around 4.15pm.
There, an x-ray demonstrated that the drill bit had been aspirated into her lung. The doctors were concerned about the position of the bit and said that they required an expert opinion.
At 8pm it was confirmed the drill head was in the lower right lung.
Our client was kept in an observation room and advised to keep still due to the risk of rupturing her lung. She was told that the hospital were taking advice from St Bart’s Hospital London and preparing for her to be transferred there for a complex operation.
She was taken for a final pre transfer CT scan at around 9.40pm to identify a path for the surgeon to reach the drill in the lung.
At around 11.30pm she was shown a text from St Bart’s Hospital regarding potential complications of the surgery including a risk of pneumothorax due to the drill bit possibly puncturing the lung. She was told to remain nil by mouth.
She started to develop a heavy wheeze and her condition worsened at around 1am. At 1.45am, whilst waiting in A&E for her transfer to St Bart’s Hospital, she started to turn pale, had breathing difficulties and experienced a foul taste in her mouth. She fell into a violent coughing fit during which the drill piece was brought up and landed in her handShe was kept in hospital for further observations and was advised to remain still as she was at risk of internal bleeding.
At 7.45am she was discharged home. She was advised to refrain from movement, not to exercise and to return to hospital immediately if she had any bleeding.
Although our client recovered physically, it was a horrifying ordeal and she suffered nightmares, flashbacks and intrusive thoughts about the incident.She instructed Fairweather Solicitors LLP to pursue the dentist for negligence.
We commenced investigations and once expert evidence was available began a case against the Defendant dentist.
Psychiatric evidence commissioned indicated that our client had been caused by PTSD by what she had experienced.
Incredibly, the Defendant did not accept any responsibility for the accident but £3,000.00 was offered to conclude the action.
This was rejected and a counter offer of £20,000.00 made.
This was rejected by the Defendant but a final position was reached between the parties to settle the case at £18,000.00.
Fairweathers’ Solicitor Graham Balmforth who took over the case and concluded it commented:- “This is a case that demonstrates well the dangers of choking and aspiration injuries in dental work. Many of these claims have been brought under control in the last 5 years by the increasing use of “rubber damns” in the oral cavity which block particles from being swallowed or breathed in. It is regrettable that their use is not yet mandatory. In this case, it may well have prevented a genuinely distressing incident that resulted in a terrifying hospital admission and a consequential psychological injury”
Whilst the injury here was primarily psychological there is no doubting that the outcome could have been very different.
With the client’s permission, Graham has contacted the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP) asking them to consider the mandatory use of rubber damns together with mandatory record keeping regarding hand piece purchase, maintenance and disposal for optimal safe practices.
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