A Nottinghamshire woman has been awarded thousands of pounds after her dentist failed to spot her tooth decay.
Tina Gibbons, a driving instructor from Sutton-in-Ashfield, said she suffered pain, discomfort and tooth loss after her dentist consistently failed to spot and treat decay that was clearly visible in X-rays.
The 50-year-old has now been awarded £8,500 in compensation from her local dentists with the help of specialist dental negligence solicitors the Dental Law Partnership.
Ms Gibbons visited Mydentist, in Bath Lane, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire between February 2011 and November 2014.
Poor restorative work on her teeth also led to Ms Gibbons needing extensive further treatment including surgery.
She said when she was first told she needed a filling, she wasn’t concerned.
She said: “After the procedure, I started suffering from pain and swelling, so I made another appointment.
“The dentist took an X-ray and recommended root canal treatment, she had indicated at a previous appointment this may be necessary. I trusted she knew what she was doing so took her advice and went ahead with it.”
However, Ms Gibbons’ dental problems continued.
She added: “Something just didn’t feel right. Once when I was suffering from toothache I was prescribed antibiotics that didn’t seem to do any good.
"Then he dentist told me the tooth I’d had root canal treatment on might need to be crowned. It was becoming really frustrating, but at this point, I just thought it must just be problems with my teeth. I didn’t think it was anything to do with the dentist.”
The problems continued when her dentist left and was replaced with a new dentist in 2013.
She said: “I told him food kept getting trapped in my teeth and his solution was to place more fillings. I remember he placed a filling that felt huge in my mouth. I stopped smiling as it just felt so awkward and uncomfortable. The final straw was when one of my fillings fell out in 2014.”
It was only when Ms Gibbons started seeing a new dentist that the extent of her problems started to be revealed.
“My new dentist was shocked when he examined my teeth,” Ms Gibbons said.
“I ended up having extensive corrective treatment with him including yet more fillings and a crown. I also had to have a tooth extracted under local anesthetic after being told the tooth was unrestorable. Even though I’d had treatment at the tooth previously.”
Ms Gibbons contacted the Dental Law Partnership. Analysis of her dental records revealed that her dentists had consistently failed to spot and treat decay that was clearly visible in X-rays and led to tooth loss.
She now requires extensive corrective treatment including the extraction of a further tooth and replacement implants and crowns.
She said: "It's unbelievable really. Every time I’d go to brush my teeth they’d hurt and bleed and I kept on getting food stuck in them. It has really affected my confidence and how I smile. I’m going to require seemingly never-ending further treatment, but I feel nervous about going back to the dentist.
“Putting the pain and tooth loss aside, the amount of time I’ve spent in the dentist’s chair is astonishing, and it’s all because my dentists weren’t doing their jobs properly.”
Christopher Dunn of the Dental Law Partnership commented: “This has been a very distressing case for my client. We have been pleased to be able to bring this claim to a satisfactory conclusion without the added stress of court proceedings. The distress and pain our client has experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentists had carried out adequate treatment in the first place, her problems could have been avoided.”
The Dental Law Partnership took on Ms Gibbons’ case in 2018. The case was successfully settled in 2020 when the dentists paid £8,500 in an out of court settlement. The dentists did not admit liability.
A spokesperson for Mydentist said: “We would like to apologise for the experience Ms Gibbons has had. This falls significantly below the standards of care that all patients should expect.”
