A DENTIST has been ordered to pay £12,500 to a woman who was left in “pain and discomfort” for weeks after suffering “irreparable” tooth decay caused by errors in her treatment.
Joanne Russell, 52, was awarded £12,500 in an out-of-court settlement in March after taking action against Dr Isra Mujahid at South Benfleet Dental Care, where she was treated by the doctor between 2017 and 2019.
Between 2020 and 2022, Ms Russell, from Colchester, was treated by another dentist at the practice and began to suffer issues, including a broken filling and a separate broken tooth, leading to further decay issues with her teeth caused due to “previous work”.
Ms Russell has now had two teeth removed due to irreversible tooth decay, has multiple gaps in her mouth and suffers dental anxiety following the treatment.
She said: “I’ve subsequently needed two separate tooth extractions because my teeth were irreversibly decayed.
“Both of these extractions caused weeks of bruising and swelling afterwards which affected what I could eat,”
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Ms Russell added: “As a result, I’ve been left with multiple gaps in my mouth which require further remedial work, but I suffer a lot from dental anxiety, and I’m really scared about going through even more treatment to install implants to replace the lost teeth.”
Ms Russell contacted the Dental Law Partnership in 2023 after it became apparent she would lose her teeth as a result of treatment, with her likely to lose further teeth due to ongoing decay.
“I’ve found the whole experience extremely stressful and painful,” Ms Russell said.
“Before I was treated by Dr Mujahid at Together Dental, I had never needed any dental work.
“Over the last few years it’s felt like every treatment I’ve needed was as a result of the bad care I received.”
Rebecca McVety of the Dental Law Partnership said: “The distress and pain our client has experienced was completely unnecessary.
“If the dentist involved had provided more satisfactory treatment, her problems could have been avoided.”
The case was successfully settled in March 2024 when Ms Russell was paid £12,500 in an out of court settlement.
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