A woman from Bromley has won £30,000 in compensation after her dentist failed to diagnose bone deterioration that led to her losing multiple teeth. Maxine Petty, 54, was a long-time patient of Paul Travers-Spencer and said that she ‘trusted him completely’ to take care of her dental health.
Signs of bone loss were detected when Ms Petty visited the dentist in 1980 but no treatment was prescribed; in 1994 a second x-ray revealed that the bone loss was between twenty and forty per cent. This deterioration continued into 1995 but Mr Travers-Spencer only offered antibiotics. Ms Petty maintains that she was ‘unaware’ of what was going on and had no idea how serious her dental condition had become.
By 2008, the problem started to become more obvious and Ms Petty began to lose her teeth and she said that ‘At this stage I thought that receding gums and continual outbreaks of pain and infection was about ageing and normal wear and tear and although I did not want to lose the teeth I just thought that was quite normal.’ However, after a visit to another dentist for a second opinion, Ms Petty was ‘horrified’ to be told how serious the gum disease was and she was informed that more of her teeth would be lost.
The DLP took up her case and provided evidence to show that the standard of care was ‘seriously below what was expected. Maxine suffered enormously under his care, losing five teeth and having to endure the pain and discomfort of extensive remedial work to replace teeth and to save others.’
Ms Petty added that she was shocked by the treatment she had received and pointed out that ‘if he had acted on my issues sooner I would not be in this mess. The service was abysmal. I am glad the case has been settled and I can try and move on.’
Mr Travers-Spencer did not admit liability.