MRS CAROL ANN WILLIAMS, a 67-year-old nutritionist and personal trainer based in Bontnewydd near Caernarfon, North Wales, has been awarded £9,250 from a former dentist with the help of spe-cialist dental negligence solicitors the Dental Law Partnership after poor restorative dental work result-ed in a defective dental bridge.
Mrs Williams was treated for almost a decade by Dr Behnam Aminnejad at City Dental Practice, Ban-gor, from January 2012 until August 2021. “I’ve looked after my teeth my entire life and always made sure to attend appointments regularly, despite being nervous about the dentist, and followed dental ad-vice for looking after my teeth,” Mrs Williams explained.
During one appointment, Mrs Williams was advised by Dr Aminnejad that the bridge which had been in her mouth since she was 19-years-old was coming loose and needed to be replaced. Over the course of the next three months, Mrs Williams attended multiple appointments with Dr Aminnejad to remove her old bridge and install a new one across five teeth. However, by mid-2019, she was beginning to experience regular issues with her gums around the bridge, and noticed that her bite had changed, meaning she bit her lip when eating.
“Despite my concerns, I was reassured that everything in that region of my mouth was fine. In April 2021, I attended an emergency appointment as the gum around the bridge was red and sore, but was again told I was fine,” Mrs Williams recounted. “Then, whilst attending an appointment to treat an ab-scess which was making my gums bleed, Dr Aminnejad diagnosed me with severe periodontal disease, telling me I was at risk of losing some teeth.”
“It was the shock of my life – I couldn’t understand how this had never been mentioned before. I wondered how I could possibly have lived with gum disease for all these years whilst I had constantly been attending the practice for considerable amounts of dental work,” Mrs Williams explained.
“I was hysterical about the whole thing, and was referred to a specialist, who couldn’t understand why Dr Aminnejad had installed a five-tooth bridge when only a three-tooth bridge should have been re-quired, which has caused so many dental issues for me,” said Mrs Williams.
The restorative treatment Mrs Williams has required has continued into this year, and cost her thou-sands of pounds as well as considerable distress. “I still can’t resolve the issues with the bridge, as the gum disease needs to be resolved first. The bridge causes me significant discomfort, makes it harder to eat and is difficult to clean,” explained Mrs Williams.
Frustrated with the experiences she had gone through, Mrs Williams contacted the Dental Law Partner-ship in 2021. Analysis of her records revealed that if reasonable skill and care had been exercised by Dr Aminnejad in placing Mrs Williams’ bridge and in monitoring her gums, the considerable amount of remedial work required could have been avoided.
“No one wants to worry about losing their teeth. I’m a fitness person and how I look is important,” Mrs Williams said. “Despite the compensation, nothing can make up for the mental distress the experi-ence has caused me, and I feel cheated that issues were never treated by my former dentist.”
Kyle Padley of the Dental Law Partnership commented: “The distress and pain our client has experi-enced was completely unnecessary. If the dentist involved had provided more satisfactory treatment, her problems could have been avoided.”
The Dental Law Partnership took on Mrs Williams’s case in 2021. The case was successfully settled in June 2023 when Mrs Williams was paid £9,250 in an out of court settlement. The dentist involved did not admit liability. Any patients who believe they may have received negligent dental care should visit dentallaw.co.uk.
