The mother of five-year-old Cameron Jackson said that her son is no longer keen to laugh or smile in public because ‘he’s scared that somebody’s going to say ‘why have you got no teeth?’, but hopefully a £9,000 pay-out from his dentist will put the smile back on his face.
Cameron went to a Leeds clinic in 2010 to have some rotten teeth removed aged just three, but his mother felt that the dentist should have spotted the decay earlier and saved her child some increasingly painful toothache. An out-of-court settlement was reached and the youngster will receive the money when he reaches the age of 18.
Dentist Dr Raymond Matloa did not admit liability for the loss of 13 milk teeth, despite the fact that Mrs Jackson maintains that she had always encouraged her son to brush his teeth and attended regular dental appointments. Cameron was on pain relief and according to his mother ‘would wake up screaming in the night’ as the toothache became more debilitating. Following the removal, Cameron’s condition has improved greatly and Mrs Jackson, 31, said that he was managing to adapt to life without teeth, commenting ‘Cameron’s doing really well and being very brave about the whole thing, which we’re very grateful for.’
The family’s Lawyer, Heather Williams, explained that the dentist was liable because ‘although it is baby teeth that Cameron has lost, it will still be a few years before his adult teeth come through.’