Child’s lip scarred after being burned by dentist

When Mr C was 13 years old, he attended the Queen Victoria Hospital in order to have his teeth extracted under general anaesthetic.

After the procedure, Mr C awoke to find that he had severe swelling and pain on the right sided corner of his mouth.

Mr C was told that the injury had been caused by an overheated drill which had come into contact with Mr C’s mouth as a result of the defendant slipping during the procedure.

Around 10 days after the incident the swelling subsided, however it took up to a month for the scabbing process to finish. Throughout this period, Mr C experienced significant pain when speaking, drinking, washing and cleaning his teeth and had to be very cautious about what he ate.

The injury left Mr C with scarring on both the inside and outside of his mouth. The right side of Mr C’s mouth has been permanently damaged and has felt noticeably different to the left side of his mouth ever since.

The initial scarring had an impact on Mr C’s social life, particularly as a 13 year old he was very conscious about his appearance. Mr C’s confidence dropped significantly in the first 18 months after the incident. Mr C remains concerned about his appearance as the scar remains visible at conversational distances.

Mr C contacted Jonathan Herbert at Thomson Snell & Passmore LLP who investigated the claim on the basis that the surgeon had allowed the drill to overheat without noticing, had failed to ensure that it did not touch Mr C’s face and did not notice when it had in fact done so.

Jonathan successfully negotiated an out of court settlement of £11,000 to compensate the claimant for the scarring to his mouth.

Jonathan Herbert specialises in child injury cases.  If you would like to ask Jonathan a question about a potential case, or if you have a general query about any personal injury , contact Jonathan at Thomson Snell & Passmore solicitors on 01892 701226 in confidence.