A dental practice in the City of Nottingham area

3. Mrs X complains about aspects of the care and treatment she received from the Practice between September 2021 and August 2022. Specifically, she complaints the Practice: • misdiagnosed her dental condition • failed to refer her for specialist treatment • inappropriately removed her L14 and Ll5 teeth and advised she needed her L13 removing.

4. Mrs X says as a result of the care she received she was not diagnosed with osteomyelitis (a bone infection) and had this been diagnosed sooner her teeth would not have needed to be removed. She also explains throughout the 12 months of treatment she suffered from:

• problems eating solid food and drinking • pain in eye socket, cheek bone, around ear • persistent high temperature and feeling unwell • not sleeping well • numbing on bottom lip • headaches • struggling to clean teeth.

Mrs X says these symptoms would have been avoided if she had received the correct care.

5. Mrs X seeks an apology and financial remedy.

6. On the 23 September 2021 Mrs X was given a treatment plan which included tooth extractions.

7. On the 27 October 2021 the Practice removed Mrs X’s Ll5 (5th tooth in lower left jaw) after she had presented on multiple occasions complaining about a lump/pain in her jaw/gum.

8. On the 25 July 2022 the Practice removed Mrs X’s Ll4 (4th tooth in lower left jaw) after continued pain in her jaw/gum.

9. On the 30 August 2022 Mrs X presented to the Practice with tender swelling in the region of the extracted teeth which was not getting better. The Practice referred her to the oral and maxillofacial department at a local hospital.

10. On the 5 October 2022 Mrs X underwent a local anaesthetic debridement. This when a clinician numbs a specific area and takes a sample of the tissue. The sample confirmed Mrs X had osteomyelitis. This is an infection and inflammation of the bone marrow, specifically in this case an infection in the bones of the jaw was found.

13. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the option to take legal action, unless we consider this is (or was) unreasonable in the circumstances. We have discussed this with Mrs X to understand her circumstances and the outcomes she wants.

14. Mrs X has told us she has suffered harm as a result of the care she received from the Practice. She has told us she is seeking apology and a financial remedy for the above complaint. This is something that can be pursued through legal action, specifically through a claim for clinical negligence. Should the claim be successful, the courts can award financial compensation. While the courts cannot instruct an organisation to apologise, it can be achieved as a by-product of legal action.

15. Mrs X has told us she is currently in correspondence with a legal practice and is pursuing her concerns about the care she received through a legal route.

16. When considering recommending a financial remedy, we consider the impact of any failings we find on the complainant. The legal process may also consider the impact of any failings on the person who received treatment, and so the amounts awarded are often higher than those we would recommend.

17. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed. We look at whether there are legal options available and whether it would be reasonable for the person to explore them. Mrs X has told us she is currently exploring legal action, and we therefore consider it reasonable for her pursue this.

18. However, if following legal action, there is any part of the complaint the courts did not consider, or if there are any remaining outcomes she still wants to achieve, Mrs X can bring her complaint back to us and we will consider this. Our 12-month time limit will still apply and therefore we would encourage Mrs X to contact us as soon as possible in this circumstance.

19. We are sorry to hear about what happened to Mrs X and how this affected her. We thank her for bringing her concerns to us. We hope this statement clearly explains why we will not be considering her concerns further at this time.

1. We have carefully considered Mrs X’s complaint about the Practice. We have decided not to complete a detailed investigation of Mrs X’s complaint. This is because we consider Mrs X could take legal action on the matter she has brought to us.

2. We are sorry to hear about circumstances around Mrs X’s complaint and of the pain she suffered from. We truly appreciate the impact this had on her and would like to take this opportunity to sincerely wish her all the best for the future.