Farleys’ dental negligence specialists were approached by a husband and wife, Mr and Mrs A*, who had both experienced negligent treatment by the same dentist on separate occasions, causing them both lasting damage.

Failed Root Canal Treatment

Firstly, Mrs A had attended her dentist after experiencing pain after biting down on a hard piece of food. Her dentist informed her that this had caused a filling in her tooth to crack. She was given a temporary filling and told to return in two weeks for a permanent one but the discomfort continued.

Mrs A received another temporary filling the following week and a permanent one the week after that; however, this didn’t solve the discomfort. Her dentist subsequently informed her that she needed root canal treatment.

Mrs A attended her appointment for root canal treatment but, after the appointment, she was told she would need to return for the treatment to be completed. As she was now experiencing significant pain, Mrs A took the decision to seek a second opinion.

The second dentist examined the tooth and explained that the dentist who performed the root canal treatment had caused damage by drilling through the base of the tooth and into the gum. The second dentist believed that the tooth needed to be extracted.

Mrs A then returned to her original dentist and passed on the prognosis of the second dentist. Her original dentist attempted to extract the tooth during an uncomfortable and traumatic procedure for Mrs A. Despite this, the dentist failed to extract the full tooth, leaving some root still embedded.

Mrs A then had to attend her local hospital to have the remainder removed. The earlier extraction had caused damage to the nerves surrounding the area which continued to cause her discomfort.

How Farleys Helped

Due to her traumatic experience, Mrs A sought to recover damages from her dentist. She instructed Farleys to act on her behalf. Our experienced dental negligence team instructed medical experts to examine Mrs A and provide an expert opinion on the damaged area. We then presented the case to dentist (the defendant) and entered into negotiations with their solicitors.

We successfully negotiated a settlement of £15,000 to cover the costs Mrs A incurred as well as the cost of future treatment to rectify the damage caused by the negligent treatment.

Negligent Root Canal and Crown Treatment

Around the same time, Mr A attended the same dentist as a filling had come out of one of his teeth. The dentist replaced the filling but around a month later, Mr A returned to the Practice as his filling has fallen out once again.

This time, the dentist replaced it with a larger filling, removing more of the tooth. A few weeks later this filling came out and Mr A went back to the dentist. An even larger filling was put in place with more of the tooth removed. Mr A complained that this larger filling was now catching but the dentist did not respond.

Two weeks after this, the filling fell out again and it was noted that the tooth was broken. Mr A’s dentist informed him that the filling couldn’t be replaced again so the tooth would either have to be removed or he would have to have a root canal treatment followed by a crown. Mr A opted for the latter as he didn’t want to lose the tooth.

During his root canal treatment, Mr A did not receive any anaesthetic as he was informed he could not have any due to being on medication. He was also given root canal treatment which was too short and so continued to suffer from discomfort.

How Farleys Helped

Mr A instructed Farleys’ dental negligence team to act on his behalf to recover compensation to cover the cost of the negligent treatment as well as the ongoing treatment he needed to rectify the mistake. Our experienced dental negligence team instructed experts in the dental field to assess damage to Mr A’s teeth. Alongside this, we argued that Mr A had suffered significant distress as a result of the treatment being carried out with no anaesthetic.

We successfully negotiated a settlement of £6,000 compensation.

If you have suffered as a result of negligent dental treatment, you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation. Contact Farleys’ specialist team today for a no-obligation discussion of your case. Call 0333 331 4602 or contact us by email.

*Clients’ names have been anonymised to protect their right to privacy.