dentist left equipment in my tooth, root canal therefore failed, paid £100s, now have to have tooth out, what can i do?

[starprincess]

I had root canal surgery 3 years ago. The dentist (NHS) said it was a difficut tooth to treat and spent a total of 5 hours just on the root canal. He did not put the crown on straight away as he wanted "to see how it went". It wasn't until 2 years later when he decided the time was right to put a crown on it.

I paid the extra to have a porcelain crown rather than a gold one (which therefore had to be private). 3 months later I developed an abcess. The dentist said it may be due to poor dental hygiene which I was very shocked by as I have excellent denal hygiene!

He lanced it and prescribed a 3 day course of antibiotics. The abcess came back straight way so I returned to the dentist, who then prescribed another course of antibiotics.

I returned again, this time seeing a different dentist who then referred me to a consultant at the dental hospital. The x-ray there revealed that a piece of surgical equipment had been left in my tooth which had caused the infection. I now have to have the tooth removed!

I am angry because of the all the money I have paid £6-700 in total, not to mention the fact that I am now going to lose my tooth!

The dentist at the hopital said I could re-coup the costs, and should investigate this using a simple google search but I cannot sem to find anyting that deals with NHS dentists.

Also, I do not want a gap, and don't feel that I should have to pay for further treatment. Will I have to pay for further treatment, ie extraction, bridging, implant, etc?

Many Thanks.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

[MrShed]

That is absolutely ridiculous. The dentist is clearly negligent. Why would it be an NHS dentist, as you went private?

[starprincess]

All the tratment was NHS. The only "private" aspect was having a porcelain crown, the fitting of the crown was all NHS but you cannot get a porcelain crown via NHS so they call it private, althought its my normal NHS dentist. I think it just means the crown was made at a private lab and not an NHS lab, needlesss to say, there was no difference to me.

[poppynurse]

In the first instance you should complain in writing to the practice manager.

[surprise]

I had a similar problem a few years ago I had a route filling after six weeks the tooth actually crumbled and it was coming away in pieces in my mouth. I work for dentists, but on the educational side, and the dentist I saw was not one I worked for. I spoke to one of the dentists I know and he said the first thing they should tell you is that route canal fillings are not always successful. This then gives you the opportunity of deciding whether to go for a tooth extraction or to chance the filling and the costs implicatitons.

Personally, I would go into the practice and ask for a copy of their complaints procedure - follow it - on this it should give you the name of your Dental Public Officer (or at least the next step to follow if you are not satisfied). I would follow procedure as you should give the practice time to right the matter.

Your local authority should have your Public Dental Officer and address listed.

[marshallka]

I had a dissolvable(yeah right!!) stitch left in mine for over 6 years... I Kept getting an absess over the root canal tooth and then eventually this blue plastic stuff stuck out of my gum and it was the stitch. By the time I got to the dentist it had come out and left a hole which I still have now. Trouble is is was xrayed numerous times on this and suffered about 4 more absess's in that time. They were not bothered in the slightest.

[johnDo]

on moneysavingexpert.com on the forum, is a dental expert called toothsmith may be worth a go. his posts have been a help to us as, he clearly is very knowledgeable in this field. good luck

[starprincess]

Thanks for the advice guys!