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Minnesota, USA: A Minnesota woman is suing a dentist for malpractice after receiving four root canals, eight dental crowns and 20 fillings in a single dental office visit. She claimed it caused her disfigurement.
The patient, identified as Kathleen Wilson, of Hennepin County, Minnesota, moved in district court on Dec. 21 against Dr. Kevin Molldrem of Molldrem Family Dentistry in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, during her July 2020 visit, which she claims caused her significant injuries.
Wilson alleged in her complaint that she lost income because of the dental work. He claimed he endured “pain and suffering, emotional distress, embarrassment and disfigurement” as a result. The complaint did not list Wilson’s occupation.
An attempt to reach Wilson’s attorney for more information was met with silence. According to the lawsuit, Moldrem is identified as representing himself in the case. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Molldrem created his Eden Prairie dental clinic, according to his website, “to provide the kind of dental care to others that I would want for my own family.”
Wilson allegedly received dental care from Molldrem between July 7, 2020 and July 21, 2020.
Moldrem completed eight crowns, four root canals and twenty restorations during one of those sessions, “improperly performing this work,” the complaint alleges.
The dentist, according to Wilson, gave her “amounts of anesthesia far in excess of the recommended dose” and lied in her medical records about how much anesthetic she was given.
The lawsuit alleged that Wilson had suffered “serious injuries almost exclusively from this negligent work,” adding that the dentist had neglected to “create a plan of care that would effectively address tooth decay and decay.”
Dr. Avrum Goldstein, a dentist in Naples, Florida, was retained by Wilson’s legal team to review her dental work and offer an expert opinion in a nine-page affidavit filed in November.
His report included a number of breaches of Molldrem’s duties, including her attempt to restore all of her teeth in a single visit. According to Wilson’s report, almost all of his teeth were eroded or decayed.
“Restoring all of her teeth does nothing to address her susceptibility to her disease, the possibility that it will continue, and the possibility that her teeth will be lost,” Goldstein wrote.
He added that completing so much dental work “in a single visit is impossible to achieve if each of these procedures is done correctly.”
Wilson sought treatment multiple times at Lake Minnetonka Dental in Wayzata, Minnesota after her last appointment with Molldrem in July 2020 due to missing tooth restorations and recurring tooth decay, according to Goldstein’s report.
Wilson underwent maintenance and replacement restorations from May to September 2022 at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry “in an effort to stabilize her mouth,” according to the study.
Wilson is seeking more than $50,000 in damages, according to the suit.
The American Dental Association declined to comment on the case.
“The American Dental Association is aware of the recent news reports and is unable to comment as the association does not have all the specific details and facts of the case,” Corinne Racine, a spokeswoman for the organization, said in an emailed statement. “Dentists should use their best professional judgment in all treatment decisions. Patient safety and comfort is paramount.”
