£3,500 awarded for substandard bridge treatment

Steve Wake recently acted for a client who received £3,500 following substandard bridge treatment.

The client had been a patient at the same dentist for many years. He needed a denture fitted to his upper front teeth and this work was carried out. Shortly after the fitting of the bridge it became uncomfortable and then painful. He returned to the practice to see if anything could be done and some minor alterations to the denture were made. The pain and discomfort continued and he returned on two more occasions when the denture was ‘filed down’

Having lost confidence in the dentist he decided to seek a second opinion from another practice. The area of the denture was immediately x-rayed and a large cyst discovered. The client alleged that his original dentist should have taken x-rays and if this had happened the cyst would have been obvious and treatment would have been initiated much earlier, and therefore he would have avoided the invasive operation that he now required.

Expert medical evidence confirmed that the Defendant dentist had failed to carry out x-rays when clinically required. As a result the client suffered between two and five months unnecessary and avoidable pain and suffering.