A MUM says she was left permanently disfigured after a "disastrous" routine dentist appointment.
Claire Shorrock's entire face ballooned following seemingly straightforward root canal treatment and she was rushed to hospital in "significant distress".
It transpired the dentist forgot to put a preventative guard in the 55-year-old's mouth before starting the procedure.
This meant sodium hypochlorite, a sort of bleach, filled her mouth and went straight into her tissue.
Claire, a mum and teaching assistant from Fulwood, Lancashire, suffered "extreme pain and swelling" as a result.
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She was kept in hospital overnight then reduced to wearing a Covid mask at home because her kids were terrified of her deformed face.
The swelling eventually reduced and her infection cleared, but Claire says her lip has been permanently altered.
She has also lost several teeth and has been told she may lose several more in the future.
Claire said: "I still have nightmares about my hospital experience and feel extremely nervous about attending the dentist now.
"The whole experience has affected me so much.
"I can feel my altered lip every time I talk, my speech has changed and I am still dealing with multiple dental issues caused by these errors, including the gaps left in my mouth following the extractions which will require costly implants."
After taking legal action, she has since been awarded £14,500 in compensation.
Claire was a patient at her practice in Preston between 2008 and 2020.
While there, she was primarily treated by two dentists.
"It was my long-term practice and I always made an effort to attend every six months," Claire said.
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She received several routine treatments over the years, but these became more frequent in 2019.
"I had persistent issues with one of my upper teeth where a filling fell out and then the replacement crown also failed, and I experienced regular infections in the tooth," she said.
"This began to make me worry about the quality of the treatment I’d received."
It was absolutely unbearable and I couldn’t help screaming
Claire Shorrock
The next year, her dentist allegedly advised Claire that she needed a root canal to treat a tooth where decay had developed.
She attended the appointment in October 2020, which is when the "true dental nightmare" began.
"As soon as the dentist started drilling into my tooth, I was hit by an overwhelming bleach smell and started experiencing shooting pain in my face," Claire said.
"It was absolutely unbearable and I couldn’t help screaming.
"The dentist thought I had gone into anaphylactic shock as my face started swelling so quickly, and I was sent to hospital in an ambulance.
"I was kept in overnight and I was unable to eat because the pain and swelling was so severe."
Medics reportedly established she had suffered a "severe burn reaction" to the sodium hypochlorite solution the dentist had been using.
"The bleach had entered my tissue because the required preventative guards and checks had not been made," she said.
"I had to go home the next day with my face still extremely swollen, which was the worst thing ever as my young children, one of whom is autistic, found my face terrifying and I was reduced to wearing a Covid mask at home to hide the swelling.
"My top lip remained numb for a couple of weeks, but once that wore off I was left with constant pain from the infection which left me only eating slimming shakes.
"My lip has been permanently altered since."
'SIGNIFICANT DISTRESS'
Analysis by the Dental Law Partnership (DLP) alleged multiple dental errors had occurred under her two dentist's care.
The firm claims that if Claire's treatment had been better, the progression of her decay could have been avoided and the "distressing and disastrous" root canal would never have been necessary.
"Furthermore, decay that was left untreated ultimately led to the loss of two teeth which had to be extracted following this ordeal, and Ms Shorrock is likely to lose at least two further teeth in the future and may require four implants," Tim Armitage, from the DLP, added.
"The significant distress and pain our client has experienced was completely unnecessary.
"If the dentists involved had provided more satisfactory treatment, her problems could have been avoided."
The case was settled in December 2023 when Claire was paid £14,500 in an out-of-court settlement.
Neither dentist admitted liability.
