Woman awarded £13,000 after 20 years of pain where her face sunk and teeth fell out

Retired social worker Susan Alty, 67, will require a number of invasive dental treatments for the rest of her life after her long-term dentist failed to spot her tooth decay.

She had visited Dr Frederick Charles Reeves at Reeves’ Dental Practice in Chorley for over 20 years and had seen him on multiple occasions where he provided a number of treatments that included repeat fillings, root canals, crown placements, and the extraction of a problem tooth.

She said: “Dr Reeves had been my dentist for over 20 years and I trusted he was doing a good job. I remember having crowns over a particular tooth which I had previously had a root canal treatment on at the front of my mouth.

"I told him I was experiencing pain and believed there was an infection where the crown had been placed, but was told I didn’t have one."

She decided to go to a specialist dentist because the crown had fallen out leaving her with a large gap at the front of her mouth which became extremely painful, especially when eating and food would fall in the hole meaning she couldn’t clean it properly.

Her new dentist took an X-ray to examine her tooth and noted that it had severe decay and had snapped at gum-level.

She then had corrective root canal treatment on that tooth and another crown fitted but unfortunately experienced further issues as it kept falling out. It then came to light that there was further structural damage to the tooth.

Mrs Alty contacted the Dental Law Partnership in 2019. Analysis of her dental records revealed that if Dr Reeves used reasonable care and skill, she would have not suffered the avoidable loss of two of her back teeth, the embarrassment due to large gap at the front of her mouth and painful repeat infections, alongside difficulty eating.

The case was successfully settled in August 2022 when the dentist paid £13,000 in an out of court settlement. The dentist did not admit liability.

Speaking about her experience, she says she felt really insecure as a result of the gap.

‘I was told that the damage caused by Dr Reeves could not be undone’

She added: “I felt reluctant to go out and socialise because of the large gap at the front of my mouth. After months of ongoing pain, I was told that the damage caused by Dr Reeves could not be undone at that particular tooth and I needed the tooth extracted and either an implant, denture or bridge.

"I was distraught as it had already cost me nearly £1,000 to have the crown out and I was on strong antibiotics for this. On top of this, the pain from the tooth had travelled up the side of my face and jaw and I still struggle with it today.

“It also came to light that the root canal treatment and extraction I had on one of my back teeth by Dr Reeves was avoidable. This really upset me as I’m convinced that the left side of my face has sunken in as a result.

“I’m happy with my new dentist but the entire experience has been really difficult for me and I’ve suffered a lot of pain because of it.”