A Tyneside teacher has accepted £6,500 in an out-of-court settlement after what she claimed was "inadequate" root canal treatment left her in "unbearable pain" - and even developing "a huge abscess" in her mouth.
Hannah Lindsay, 25, lives in Shiremoor and teaches English in Newcastle's West End. After suffering severe toothache in 2016 she went to Perfect Smile (Acorn Dental) in Jesmond for a dentist's appointment - there, she was recommended root canal treatment, and Hannah thought "it would be the end of my suffering and all the pain would go away". But this was not the case.
She continued to experience swelling and required antibiotics, and the pain continued. She returned to the same dentist who recommended a repeat procedure. But even the second painful root canal treatment did not solve Hannah's problems.
Then, during the first Covid-19 lockdown, in pain and with a growing abscess, she went to an emergency private dental appointment desperate for help.
Perfect Smile (Acorn Dental) have not accepted liability.
She saw a different dentist who recommended that the only way forward was to get her tooth extracted - she had this done at the Newcastle Dental Hospital. Hannah said: "I was heartbroken at the thought of losing a tooth but I just couldn’t go through any more extensive dental work and pain."
She added: "They basically said the tooth was unrepairable and when they had to take it out, it was in bits. You can see the gap when I'm talking, smiling. I had a really big abscess. I didn't want to speak around people - I was worried about the smell."
Hannah said all she had wanted was to have her smile back to normal, and said the settlement would go towards the cost of getting the gap fixed. She said: "It's not as if I'd had the two grand lying around to get it done myself. That's what the money will go for. It'll cover the implant."
She added that the trauma of her case had been difficult to get over, saying: "My confidence and trust in dentists has been completely shattered. I am now extremely self-conscious about my appearance and feel really aware of the gap in my teeth. Also, to lose a tooth at such a young age, I just know that it is going to affect me long into the future."
Perfect Smile (Acorn Road) have been repeatedly contacted for comment.
