Compensation when wrong tooth extracted by negligent dentist

A visit to the dentist can be a traumatic experience for many people, even when they are not having major dental treatment. A tooth extraction is usually a last resort and not something anyone would wish to undertake unnecessarily.

So, it is understandable that when a lady had the wrong tooth extracted by mistake she approached Bartletts Solicitors to see whether she would be entitled to compensation.

Our client had visited her usual dentist with a wobbly tooth and agreed for it to be extracted. However, on the day of the treatment, the dentist in fact extracted a healthy tooth and then went on to extract the wobbly one - leaving an unexpectedly large gap.

When the lady questioned this, the dentist initially claimed that both teeth had been unhealthy and needed extraction.

However, we obtained the dental records on our client's behalf and following an independent examination by another dentist, it was confirmed that the first tooth had been quite healthy.

Faced with such incontrovertible evidence, the dentist then admitted negligence and the case settled out of court with our client receiving £1,500 in compensation.