'All I wanted was straight teeth - then dentists removed the wrong ones'
A student has been awarded £22,000 after dentists removed two wrong teeth and left decay in her mouth untreated, resulting in the loss of a third tooth.
Alisha Khan, now 20, said she always wanted straight teeth and was told she would need to have several teeth extracted and wear braces so she could achieve her perfect smile.
She attended several dental appointments and examinations at {my}dentist in Blackburn between January 2015 and August 2016, and was then referred to have her upper right and upper left second premolars extracted by another dentist in 2018, aged 15.
The dentists are self-employed and not currently providing services for {my}dentist, it is understood.
The first extraction appointment took place on November 19, 2018 and the second on December 3, 2018. Alisha said she noticed she had “gaps when (she) was smiling”, but it was not until weeks later that she discovered two incorrect teeth had been taken out, leaving her in tears.
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The extractions left gaps in her teeth (PA Real Life/Dental Law Partnership)“As a 15-year-old your appearance is really important and they just told me the dentist had removed the wrong ones,” Alisha said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen or if it was going to be fixed, or what treatment I would need, so I was really worried and I couldn’t stop crying.
“It was scary. I had visible gaps when I was smiling. I was just worrying all the time and I felt like I couldn’t live a normal life." In between these two appointments, Alisha saw the second dentist and complained of a throbbing pain in a different tooth which kept her awake at night.
A diagnosis of irreversible pulpitis - when the inner pulp portion of the tooth becomes inflamed - was made and the tooth was extracted. The law and criminology student subsequently had to wear braces for four years, rather than one, due to the incorrect extractions which “knocked (her) confidence” significantly and left her “worrying all the time”.
“I was really self-conscious; you don’t want to have big metal train tracks in your mouth in your 20s,” she said. For a long time, Alisha questioned whether her teeth would ever be fixed, describing the situation as “horrible”.
However, after contacting specialist dental negligence solicitors Dental Law Partnership, which took on her case in 2021, she has been awarded £22,000 compensation by the two dentists in an out-of-court settlement. The dentists involved did not admit liability.
Alisha showing the inside of her mouth (PA Real Life)
The student showing her braces (PA Real Life)Alisha, who lives in Manchester, said: "I was happy that something had come of it, given everything I’d been through. I feel happy and better in myself and I’m planning to put the money into my savings so I can hopefully buy a house when I finish university."
Alisha was treated by the two dentists for a number of her childhood years. In early 2015, just before her 12th birthday, she said she was referred for orthodontic treatment and examinations began at another practice. By August 2018, a plan was put in place by the orthodontist, which required the extraction of several teeth, and the first appointment with the second dentist took place on November 19, 2018.
Alisha then started experiencing pain in another tooth – the lower left second molar – which came from a failure to treat decay. This led to an unplanned extraction of another tooth. “I was in a lot of pain,” Alisha said. “Some nights I would wake up in the middle of night; I’d have school but my teeth had been hurting all night.”
After the second extraction appointment on December 3, 2018, it was revealed that two of the wrong teeth had been removed, and Alisha burst into tears. “Every time I went in for an appointment, my orthodontist was telling me that the teeth hadn’t moved how they’d wanted them to, or said, ‘It’s going to be a while’, so I lost hope,” she said.
Alisha on a recent holiday in Portugal (PA Real Life)
Alisha with her sister Jasmine (PA Real Life)“I just kept wondering, ‘Is it ever going to be fixed? If so, is it going to be six years? Ten years?’ It was just horrible because I was only meant to have them on for one year and then they just became my life.” Further analysis of her records revealed the significant extent of the remedial work she required.
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Dental Law Partnership said that, had the correct teeth been extracted and the decay diagnosed and treated earlier, Alisha’s orthodontic work could have been completed within 18 to 24 months and no unnecessary teeth would have been lost. Instead, it said Alisha faced years of expensive dental treatment
“I was only meant to have the braces on for a year but that year turned into four years,” Alisha explained. “I recently opted to have them taken off because I couldn’t deal with it any longer; I’d just had enough of having them on and everything to do with them. I’m 20 and I don’t really want to have metal braces when I’m 20.”
Alisha said it took at least three years for her to start noticing an improvement in her teeth. She opted to have her braces removed in January 2023 and now wears a retainer, and said she feels “better in (herself) confidence-wise” and “happy again”. The case was successfully settled in March 2023 when Alisha was paid £22,000 in an out-of-court settlement, although the dentists involved did not admit liability.
While Alisha wishes the whole thing never happened, she said she is pleased “it wasn’t brushed under the carpet” and there has been a positive outcome. “It’s been a long and stressful journey, and while I wish it had never happened, it was worth it,” she said.
A spokesperson for {my}dentist said: “We would like to apologise for the experience Alisha has had. Providing the highest quality dental care to our patients is our first priority and we’re disappointed that on this rare occasion it fell below our expectations.”
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