A girl who grew a "witch-like" chin after a chipped tooth turned into a massive abscess has been awarded more than £5,000 compensation.
Emily Smith’s ordeal began when she visited the dentist as a six-year-old to treat her tooth, which was damaged while she was playing a recorder. She was reportedly prescribed regular doses of fluoride by Darwenside Dental Practice, near Blackburn, to treat the problem.Two years later, her mum Catherine Richards noticed that the girl’s face had begun to grow into an unusual, elongated shape with a “witch-like” chin. Emily had developed a severe abscess, which allegedly went unnoticed by the dentist's practice and was the start of a nightmare that would see her hospitalised.
She has now been given £5,400 compensation and her mum is now warning fellow parents to push for better dental care. “It all happened very quickly. My husband said ‘Have you noticed Emily’s face is changing?’, so we went to the GP," she said. She had chipped the tooth whilst playing the recorder and we regularly attended the [dental] practice to have fluoride applied to her teeth.
Emily and her mum Catherine (Jam Press)
Emily chipped her tooth while playing the recorder (Jam Press)We were referred to hospital, where X-rays confirmed she was suffering from an abscess in her mouth at the site of the tooth she had previously chipped. “She was put on IV antibiotics and underwent an operation under general anaesthetic to drain the abscess. It was very soon after the operation that Emily’s face became noticeably red and swollen and she had to be put on further IV drips to treat the infection, which resulted in the four days in hospital. It was a really frightening experience for Emily and me as a parent.”
The tooth was originally chipped in 2015 and the hospital visit took place in 2017. But sadly, this was not the end of the child’s teeth problems. She was diagnosed with deep decay in a baby tooth in 2018 – which had to be extracted.
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Her mum the mum told NeedToKnow: “While this was a separate issue, it arose while she was being treated at the same [dental] practice. I felt the dental work Emily had been receiving wasn’t good enough and was impacting her wellbeing – she went through two really frightening and painful experiences.”
An X-ray showing Emily’s infection in her mouth (Jam Press)Catherine explains that because her daughter was having regular check-up dental appointments, the last thing she expected was for Emily to develop an issue so serious that she required hospitalisation. She believes that had the chipped tooth been sealed at her initial appointment, the infection that led to the abscess could have been prevented.
Catherine contacted the Dental Law Partnership on Emily’s behalf and was awarded the compensation after they looked into her records, it was revealed last month. This sum was paid by Dental Protection, the insurers of the dentists the case was settled against, who did not admit liability.
She has now been awarded compensation (Jam Press)
She was reportedly prescribed regular doses of fluoride (Jam Press)The clinic settled out of court in June 2023 and the compensation was issued for the treatment of Emily’s abscess and the separate issue of the tooth, which had to be extracted. The Dental Law Partnership’s analysis found that Emily’s infection and subsequent dramatic hospital admission could have been avoided if dentists had provided appropriate treatment for the chipped tooth in the first place.
But the mum says her daughter is still suffering with the child feeling “self-conscious about smiling” and has “gaps” in her mouth from the teeth she lost. Catherine is now hoping to raise awareness of the serious consequences that can come from seemingly minor dental problems.
She said: “It’s been a really frustrating process, especially knowing that these ordeals could have been avoided if better treatment had been provided. The aim of sharing Emily’s story is so that parents are better informed. No mother wants to see their child go through pain, particularly as this was avoidable.” Darwenside Dental Practice said: “The practice had a change of ownership in November 2020. The period referenced precedes the date of the acquisition.”
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