A mum has agreed to accept £20,000 damages from a dentist on behalf of her daughter who was left with tooth decay so severe she would find “bits of her teeth” left behind if she ate crunchy food. Cleaning firm boss Lisa Brown, claims she was told “everything was fine” with daughter Poppy's teeth, only to be landed with years of gruelling treatment and a £11,000 private dental repair bill.
Lisa, who is a single mum and lives in Bournemouth, Dorset, with Poppy, 13, and her one-year-old sister, blames the issue on early cavities going undiagnosed. She said: “Poppy would be eating and bits of her teeth were falling out.”
She added: “If she did have something crunchy, we’d see little bits of her teeth like chipped rice left behind. It was horrendous.” Lisa, who recently accepted the payment from Dr Diana Nuca, of {my}dentist, on behalf of her daughter, told how Poppy’s dental decay led to her having three teeth extracted.
The teenager still needs continued orthodontic care six years later, costing the family £1,500 so far and facing substantial additional costs. She said: “I don’t know how I’ll ever trust an NHS dentist again.”
Poppy was registered with the dental practice in 2014, when the family moved to the area, having previously attended a surgery in Swindon, Wiltshire. Things changed when Poppy turned seven when, after two years without incident as a patient at the Christchurch surgery, Lisa was “shocked” to be told her daughter needed her first filling.
After doing some research, Lisa realised the amount of fruit she was allowing Poppy to eat may have led to the tooth decay, so she adjusted her diet at home and left her dental care in the hands of the professionals. But she claims the dentist informed her that the practice did not perform fillings on children and Poppy would, therefore, need to be referred elsewhere.
It was at this point, alarm bells began to ring. She said: “We kept being put off over when the appointment for the filling would be. First I was told it’d be within a fortnight. Then it was an 18-month wait.”
Noticing her daughter’s increasing discomfort, ahead of a holiday to Corfu in autumn 2016, Lisa claims she tried to contact {my}dentist.
She said: “Poppy wasn’t sleeping with the pain and I was frantic over how she’d cope on the holiday. I called the dentist and was told someone would call me back. No one did, so I called a local private dental practice and got in the next day.”
It was then that Lisa says she was informed her daughter’s dental issues were far more than the “single filling” she claims she was told to expect. She was informed that Poppy had a tooth abscess, an infection and needed three teeth removing due to the serious level of her decay.
One of the extractions was deemed so urgent that it was performed immediately. After having three baby teeth removed and four fillings over six painful appointments, Poppy now faces additional orthodontic issues and has been left scared of the dentist.
Lisa blames many of her problems on “failings and needless delays,” as Poppy now has significant dental misalignment and overcrowding. But, in a letter of response when a settlement was being explored, the lawyers for Dr Diana Nuca made it clear that if the decay had been detected earlier, she would not have avoided further orthodontic treatment altogether.
Many of Poppy’s adult teeth are now impacted into her jaw, according to Lisa, who says one tooth is growing through the roof of her mouth. Lisa says the private dental care to correct Poppy’s current issues will cost at least £11,000, on top of the £1,500 she has already spent.
A law firm took on Poppy’s case in 2016, obtaining the out-of-court settlement, although the dental practice refused to admit liability. Heather Owen, of the Dental Law Partnership, said: “The distress and pain our young client has experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentist had carried out adequate treatment in the first place, her problems could have been avoided.”
A spokesperson for {my}dentist responded on behalf of the practice. They said: “We would like to apologise unreservedly for the experience Poppy and her Mum have had. The dentist involved left our practice in 2017.”
Dr Diana Nuca was approached for a comment through her current employer, Bupa, but a spokesperson said: “Dr Nuca won’t be commenting on this.”
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