Do I have a dental claim?

Wendolynn

Basically I had all four wisdom teeth coming through and one was impacted and caused the tooth in front of it to get a deep cavity.

I said to my dentist the impacted wisdom tooth was giving me pain and swelling my face and he said he couldn’t take them out until they had an infection and I’d have to go private so I went to a private dentist and he did x rays on the impacted wisdom tooth and found the one in front on the impacted tooth had a very deep cavity close to the nerve and that it would need a root canal. I ended up paying £2000 to get three wisdom teeth taken out under an atheistic as the pain was too much and I was put on a waiting list at the hospital for over 6 months. My NHS dentist said he couldn’t perform the root canal treatment and referred me to a “specialist” who isn’t a specialist at all! Just a private dentist more experienced in root canals but I didn’t find this out until after I had paid the £85! I found out from the letter I got that explained the root canal treatment he would do.

I feel this all could of been avoided had my NHS dentist looked more at my impacted wisdom tooth initially when I said I had pain and my face swollen. I had multiple appointments with him and all he did was look at the tooth and say “Yep that’s impacted”. I didn’t even know what impacted meant!! He gave me no information on what to do about it until it got really bad then he said I should get it taken out privately. The pain must of been coming from the deep cavity dose to the nerve as well but I was under the impression it was just from the wisdom tooth because that’s what he told me.

Currently the tooth that needs a root canal has a filling but the filling has come out multiple times. It hurts and the private dentist said there is a start of infection. I can’t really afford the £1600 it’s going to cost and no NHS dentist will do a root canal on it. My tooth above it has already started to over erupt as half the bottom molar is missing as the nhs dentist drilled half the tooth off. So ifI take it out it will cause the upper tooth to over erupt more and cause me to need an implant.


I have excellent oral health I’ve never had a root canal before I never drink fizzy drinks ives had braces my teeth are straight. I’ve never gone to bed without brushing or missed an appointment with the dentist. All of this is so unfair and costly I trusted my dentist and I feel so let down.


Could I claim for dental negligence for the tooth that needs a root canal?

brook2jack

NHS guidelines are that unless a wisdom tooth has caused an infection so bad it needed antibiotics twice then any referral will be rejected.

The consequence of this is that very often decay starts in the tooth in front , very low down. This decay is very difficult to fill well as getting to it is quite tricky , and although the hole is often not very large , because it is low down it is often very close to the nerve and often will need root treatment. The wisdom tooth needs removing before the tooth can be filled as getting to the decay is impossible otherwise.

Root filling that back tooth is often very difficult , and will need specialised root treatment equipment etc. There are dentists who, although not on the specialists register, are called DWSI , dentists with a special interest, who have the equipment and expertise to tackle difficult root fillings. They are very,very rarely available on the health service .

The symptoms you describe sound more like problems from the wisdom tooth than the decay. Where the decay was could only be spotted by further x rays and , because of where this decay normally occurs would always have been at high risk of needing root filling.

NHS guidelines for removing wisdom teeth means many more are left in and this decay on the teeth in front happens much more often than it used to .

It is impossible to say without looking at your x rays and notes but it looks as if you have been unlucky rather than subject to negligence.

Toothsmith

Having wisdom teeth out is not a risk-free procedure. Particularly when buried & impacted, their roots can be very close to the nerve that runs through your jaw and emerges to provide feeling to your bottom lip. So having a wisdom tooth out has a small, but real risk of damaging that nerve and leaving you with a numb lip. This can be for a few weeks, or - again rarely, but it is a risk - permanently. You will be warned of this when you enter into the process of having it removed. This wouldn't be 'negligent' it would just be unlucky.

So whilst the NICE guidelines for wisdom tooth removal do tend to leave a lot more wisdom teeth in place now than used to be, and this decay in the tooth in front is more of a problem now than it was when they were whipped out for prevention reasons, it is there for a reason.

Wendolynn

The dentist never took any x rays even when I complained of pain. The tooth ended up having a filling before the wisdom tooth was removed. The wisdom tooth was then removed but the filling kept coming out. So then it then needed a root canal.

Wendolynn

NHS dentist never took X-rays. Private dentist did and found deep cavity. Went back to nhs dentist to have said cavity filled as private was more expensive. Filling came out multiple times and now needs root canal.

Toothsmith

If no x-rays were taken, then dentist might well be on dodgy ground.

Proving negligence is a long and complicated procedure though.

The starting point would be to make a complaint directly to the practice. Have in your head what you feel a fair outcome would be, and don't get too aggressive.

If you make a complaint to the practice and feel that a fair result would be that this dentist funds your costs in getting that tooth sorted out - then if he is on dodgy ground and doesn't have notes & x-rays to justify his decisions, then his insurers will probably advise him to settle that.

If you go all out for negligence and getting him struck off and thousands in damages and 'emotional stress' - then his insurers are much more likely to fight it and it will go on forever.

First step though would be a measured letter of complaint to the practice. Ask for their complaints policy as well. They are obliged to respond promptly to this, and the policy should detail where you can escalate the complaint to if you are not satisfied with the response of the practice.

The first response, containing the complaints policy, should be back with you within a few working days. This will just be a letter saying they have received your complaint and are considering it. A more detailed response should be with you within a couple of weeks after that.