A dental practice in the Camden area

4. Ms O complains about the Practice’s care and treatment in September 2017. She complains that: • during a root canal the dentist left a broken tool in her tooth • the dentist did not tell her about the broken tool or try to remove it.

5. Ms O says this caused her pain and discomfort for years. She also says the treatment she had to fix this over the years left her feeling anxious about dentists.

6. Ms O wants an apology, service improvements and a financial payment.

8. The law states we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the opportunity to take legal action unless we consider this is (or was) unreasonable in the circumstances. We discussed this with Ms O to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants. We do not consider if the legal action would succeed, but if it would be a reasonable option to look in to.

9. Ms O explained an X-ray in December 2021 found that what had happened during the appointment in 2017 was causing her pain.

10. Ms O says because of this she has experienced significant pain and has spent thousands of pounds trying to treat the issue. She has had to have the tooth removed at a specialist practice in London.

11. The Practice was sold in 2019. We have spoken with the current and the last owner to find who is responsible for this complaint. We have not reached a place where responsibility has been accepted by all parties.

12. Ms O may have a legal option available by making a clinical negligence claim.

13. The main outcome Ms O wants is a financial payment. We spoke to Ms O about how we approach financial payment recommendations and how much money she would be hoping to get. . Ms O says she had to pay several thousand pounds for her tooth to be treated and then removed. She is also having an implant and wanted the cost of that to be covered too. She is looking for at least several thousand pounds.

14. Successful legal action would be able to achieve the amount of money she wants but we might not be able to achieve this for her.

15. We have spent time trying to find which dentist would be liable to make a payment if we upheld the complaint. There has been disagreement between the last and current owners over who would be responsible for this.

16. If we were to uphold the complaint and make a financial recommendation, it may prove difficult to make sure the money is paid to Ms O. This is because we would just be making a financial recommendation against an individual (the dentist), but legal action would be enforceable by law.

17. We discussed the option of legal action with Ms O. She stated she was hesitant to take legal action because she felt like she would be starting all over again.

18. While we appreciate it would not be Ms O’s preference to take legal action, there are no other barriers to her doing this and it is the best way to achieve the amount of financial payment she wants.

19. We understand Ms O also wants an apology and service improvements. These might not come about as direct results of legal action, but the financial outcome is the most important to Ms O.

1. We have carefully considered Ms O’s complaint about a dental practice in the Camden area (the Practice).

2. We understand the events that caused Ms O to complain are very important to her. We recognise the impact it had on her and the struggles she has had in getting treatment for her tooth.

3. We think Ms O could take legal action by making a clinical negligence claim. We think this is the most appropriate way for Ms O to resolve her concerns. This is because successful legal action is more likely to achieve the outcomes she wants. We have decided to take no further action.