Surgeons Discover NHS Dentist Avoided Procedures

A man in Wales has told of how a normal NHS dental procedure left him with extensive pain and a severe infection.

Warren Dent, 40, went to his local dental practice in Cardiff after experiencing some discomfort and was told he needed three fillings.

This was completed as normal and after the appointment was over he was told that, while he may experience some pain, the problem was sorted, reports the Daily Mail.

However, within hours his toothache returned. He started to take painkillers, but this did little to ease his problems, so he visited another dentist in the area and was told one of the teeth needed to be removed.

The offending tooth was extracted and Mr Dent was sent home again but, according to the graphic designer, the pain only got worse and his face started to swell up rapidly.

"It hurt so much I couldn't open my mouth properly. Yet when I went back to the dentist the following morning, I was just given painkillers and told this kind of reaction was perfectly normal," Mr Dent told the newspaper.

When the pain continued to cause him issues and the swelling got to the point where his mouth could not open by more than half a millimetre, he decided to visit the accident and emergency unit at University Dental Hospital Cardiff.

"By that time ... I was spitting pus. It was vile," he explained.

Surgeons discovered he had an extensive infection across his lower jaw that should have meant the NHS dentists avoided doing any procedures on the man and instead told him to take antibiotics.

Mr Dent needed an operation under general anaesthetic and had the affected area bathed in antibiotics.

Although he eventually recovered, he now has a one-inch long scar on his left cheek and had to have two more teeth removed after the infection destroyed their root canals.

The 40-year-old also complains of a "constant pricking and burning sensation" in his jaw, caused by an anaesthetic injection from when he had his first tooth extracted.

Expert Opinion

NHS dentists in a great number of cases provide a good service throughout the country, but unfortunately for Mr Dent he didn’t receive the treatment he initially required which left him suffering with prolonged pain and the further removal of other teeth. <br/> <br/>“Like any patients, those receiving dental treatment deserve the best possible care available to them, with the ultimate aim being to eradicate the issue as quickly as possible and also to prevent further problems arising. <br/> <br/>“We hope that lessons can be learned from an incident like this which will ensure dentists across the NHS provide the highest level of support and also prevent this kind of situation from arising again.” <br/> Mandy Luckman - Partner