Reina Hawkes, from Portslade, went in for a regular repeat root canal treatment at Sussex Dental Group in High Street, Portslade.
But Ms Hawkes said the procedure in 2020 went “drastically wrong” when the dentist, Dr Sebastian, drilled her tooth.
The 57-year-old said: “I was having problems with a tooth where I had a previous root canal so I went to see my family dentist.
“He looked into it and put him on a course of antibiotics. However, I continued to feel pain.”
Two weeks later, Mrs Hawkes had a repeat root canal to try to resolve the problem.
When she continued to feel discomfort a fortnight later, she returned to see Dr Sebastian for an X-ray.
He said: “Dr Sebastian suggested I have an elective, where the damaged tissue is removed to try and save the tooth that cut my gum. He didn’t explain what the process would entail and I’m not sure I would have agreed to it if I had.”
After the procedure, Ms Hawkes left the surgery shaking.
“I had so many injections I was bruised black and blue,” she said.
“I was in a lot of pain”.
He said it was a traumatic experience after the root canal had gone “drastically wrong”.
After the episectomy, Dr. Sebastian suggested that Ms. Hawkes see a specialist.
She said: “He gave me the specialist’s contact details and said he would pay for the treatment. Then Dr. Sebastian started calling me at unusual hours, even at 9pm, to try to talk me through my treatment.
“I had faith in him and I felt a huge disappointment.”
Mrs Hawkes went for a second opinion because she was still in pain when it was revealed that Dr Sebastian had drilled her tooth and it needed to be extracted.
He said: “The tingling in my gums just stops. My tooth turned gray because the nerve that made me self-aware died. Now I have the tooth removed to make room for an implant, but I have long-term dental-related anxiety.”
Ms Hawkes contacted the Dental Law Partnership in 2022.
Analysis of her dental records revealed that if Dr. Sebastian had treated her with adequate care, she may have avoided losing her tooth and needing the implant replaced.
Rebecca McVety of the Dental Law Partnership said: “The anguish and pain our client experienced was completely unnecessary. Had the dentist involved carried out adequate examinations and provided more appropriate treatment, much of the extensive restorative treatment that Mrs Hawkes had to undergo could have been avoided.’
The Dental Law Partnership took on Mrs Hawkes’ case in 2022. The case was successfully settled in August 2023 when Mrs Hawkes was paid £9,250 in an out-of-court settlement.
The dentist involved admitted responsibility.
