Case studies

Man holding mouth
Missed perforation

A dentist over-excavated during a difficult RCT, causing a perforation

Notes crucial
Notes crucial to a successful defence

A patient attended his dentist in 2009 for the first time in five years for a routine check-up. The dentist, a DDU member, noted that the patient had a fractured carious UR8.

Permanent molar extraction

A dentist found himself facing a claim for compensation, following the erroneous extraction of a 6-year old patient's tooth

Image of a complaint form
Reasonable care and skill

A dentist was not liable for the loss of tooth, but did fail to refer the patient

Surprise complaint

A DDU member received an unexpected complaint from a patient after an apparently satisfactory resolution to an extended course of treatment.

Unerupted canine

A patient alleged that her dentist should have recognised an ectopically positioned canine when she was a teenager