A dental practice in the Rotherham area

3. Mrs U complains about the Practice’s treatment on 15 August 2023, when it did an upper tooth extraction (removal). During the procedure an oro-antral communication (OAC) happened, which is when there is a hole between the mouth and sinus cavity. This was a known risk of the procedure.

4. She complains the dentist did not give her enough time to consider the risks associated with the procedure. She says if she had not already been in the dental chair when the risks were explained, she would have chosen to have the tooth extracted in a hospital, where she feels she would have been less likely to develop an OAC.

5. Mrs U has explained that even after having the OAC repaired by a surgeon, she was in significant pain. She says the need for an OAC repair has also led to a reduction in facial movement and pain when she speaks.

6. She also complains the dentist did not correctly repair the OAC or give her the correct antibiotics after the repair. She says the impact of this was she was in extreme pain for three months while waiting for a hospital appointment to have the repair completed.

7. Mrs U wants a financial payment.

8. On 6 July 2023, Mrs U’s general dentist referred her to the tier two minor oral surgery service at the Practice for the extraction of her upper right first molar tooth (UR6).

9. On 15 August, the Practice did the extraction. During the extraction an OAC developed and the dentist closed it using a buccal advancement flap. This is a technique where the dentist lifts a piece of skin from the inside the cheek and turns it around so that it fills the OAC. The dentist prescribed a seven-day course of amoxicillin (an antibiotic).

10. Mrs U reports that a few days later she attended the hospital emergency department (ED) as she had a sore, swollen face and could not get a dental appointment. The ED doctor gave her co-amoxiclav (an antibiotic used for bacterial infections) and directed her to return if she had any more problems. Mrs U says she attended ED four more times due to swelling and green discharge.

11. On 29 August, the Practice reviewed Mrs U. The dentist decided the OAC was healing well and removed the stitches. They arranged to review Mrs U in four weeks’ time.

12. On 26 September, the Practice again reviewed Mrs U. The dentist again felt the area was healing well and they had no concerns. But, due to Mrs U’s pain they said an assessment by a surgeon would be most appropriate. Because of Mrs U’s visits to ED this had already been arranged meaning the dentist did not need to make any more referrals. The dentist arranged for a follow up on the 17 October. Mrs U cancelled this because she was going to have surgery to close the extraction site at the hospital.

13. On 9 November a surgeon operated on Mrs U to close the OAC.

14. On 1 December Mrs U again attended ED due to pain and swelling. The hospital admitted her and gave her intravenous (IV means medication given directly into the veins) fluids and antibiotics. It discharged her on 6 December.

17. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has the option to take legal action, unless we think this is unreasonable in the circumstances. We have discussed this with Mrs U to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look in to.

18. Mrs U has complained the Practice was medically negligent in its treatment of her and she would like a financial payment. She says it did not get fully informed consent or correctly repair the OAC. She says the Practice’s actions caused her to suffer unnecessarily, need another operation and left her in ongoing pain and discomfort. Mrs U could take legal action for this.

19. If we investigated and upheld her complaint, we may recommend a financial payment. We discussed how we decide on a payment with Mrs U and shared our guidance on financial remedy.

20. Mrs U felt the impact of what happened is between a level four and level five on our severity of injustice scale. Level four indicates a payment of £3,000 to £9,950 and level five indicates over £10,000. In her complaint form Mrs U stated, ‘Not currently taken legal action – I wish to if necessary.’ When we spoke to Mrs U, we explained we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has the option to take legal action, unless we think this is unreasonable in the circumstances.

21. Mrs U did not highlight any issues that would prevent her from getting legal advice. When we explained she may be able to achieve a financial payment by taking legal action, Mrs U said she would be able to do this.

22. Considering the seriousness of the claimed failing and the level of payment Mrs U wants, we think it is important for her to explore her legal options. There are time limits to bring a legal claim, so we do not want to disadvantage Mrs U by delaying her and looking at the case now.

23. We have explained to Mrs U that should solicitors not accept her case, she can return to us. At that stage we would need to consider how far the legal claim had progressed and what outcomes it had achieved. We would also need to consider our time limit, so we would advise her to take legal action without delay. We can only set aside our one-year time limit if there are strong reasons to.

24. We cannot provide legal advice and so cannot say whether the claim will be successful. It is important that Mrs U gets independent legal advice.

25. We are very sorry to hear about the circumstances which led to Mrs U bringing her complaint to us. We realise how important this complaint is to her and understand it continues to be a difficult time.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs U’s complaint about a dental practice in the Rotherham area (the Practice). We are very sorry to hear about the pain she is experiencing. It is clear from Mrs U’s account the significant impact this is having on her life.

2. We think Mrs U could take legal action on the matters she has brought to us, so we have decided to take no further action at this time.