After years of agony with my teeth I approached a dental law firm and was awarded £9k

Skye Unsworth, 18, recieved the payment after it was found that undiagnosed decay and poor treatment since she was 12-years-old led to severe pain that caused her to miss school and difficulty eating throughout her teenage years and even now.

The teenager says the experiences have has left her losing all trust in dentists, despite knowing that she still needs treatment.

Miss Unsworth sought help from specialist dental negligence solicitors the Dental Law Partnership who took up her case.

She was a long-term patient of Dr Daniela Parvu at Safehands Dental Care, since 2018, and was also a patient of Dr Alex Rengit at Orthoworld Blackpool from 2019 for orthodontic treatment.

Dr Parvu is no longer practising at Safe Hands.

The teenager said: “When I was 12 years old, I felt really bad tooth pain in my lower mouth and visited Dr Parvu, but she didn’t do anything about it.

“I was also undergoing orthodontic treatment at the time where Dr Rengit didn’t flag that anything was wrong.

“However in 2021, when I visited Dr Parvu because one of my teeth was really sensitive and I was in pain, I was told there was deep decay at the tooth.

“As a result, Dr Parvu placed a filling in that tooth, which was my first ever filling. It was meant to only be a 30-minute appointment, but the procedure took over an hour and a half.”

She continued: “I thought it would be fine as she’s the professional and should know if she’d made a mistake. But the next day I went to eat on the left-hand side of my mouth and it hurt so much it brought me to tears.

Pain was unbelievable

“After that the pain was unbelievable to the point that I couldn’t get out of bed and go to school on some days. I couldn’t eat on the left sideAfter years of agony with my teeth I was awarded £9,000 of my mouth as it was really sensitive. If I eat or drink anything too cold or too hot, it still shoots pain from that tooth, and to this day I still can’t eat properly on that side.”

Frustrated with the experiences she had gone through, Miss Unsworth’s dad contacted the Dental Law Partnership in 2022.

Further analysis of her records revealed the extent of the poor dental treatment Miss Unsworth received from Dr Parvu and Dr Rengit. If they’d identified and treated the decay on her tooth with appropriate restoration, it would have avoided the progression of the decay, the requirement for imminent root canal treatment and the loss of the tooth in future.

The teenager said: “I’ve been told I need a root canal on that tooth as I’m still suffering from difficulty eating and sensitivity. But since this traumatising experience, I don’t trust any dentists to touch that tooth.

“I’m too scared to get further treatment as the slightest bit of pressure hurts. I know I need to get it restored soon but the thought of trusting another dentist is too much, and I know I’ll lose that tooth eventually in future too.”

Stephanie Neden-King of the Dental Law Partnership commented: “The 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 Dental Law Partnership took on Miss Unsworth’s case in 2022.

The case was successfully settled in June 2024 when Miss Unsworth was paid £9,000 in an out of court settlement. The dentists involved did not admit liability. Any patients who believe they may have received negligent dental care should visit dentallaw.co.uk.

The two dental practices were been approached for a comment.

A spokesperson for Orthoworld Blackpool said: “We would like to apologise for the experience Ms Unsworth has had. Ensuring patients receive the highest quality dental care is our first priority and we’re disappointed that on this rare occasion it fell below our expectations.

“The dentist involved in Ms Unsworth’s treatment, and who has now settled out of court with her, no longer works in our practice and hasn’t for a number of years.”