A 48-year-old woman has received a £26,000 payout in compensation from a Woodbridge dental surgery after "disastrous" treatment left her in pain and needing teeth removed.
Sarah Cooke, from Wickham Market, had been a regular patient at mydentist in Old Maltings Approach in Woodbridge since 2000.
Over the course of nearly two decades, she was treated by a number of dentists at the practice for a variety of routine check-ups and treatments, including fillings and root canal treatment.
It was in November 2017 when she visited the practice due to pain she was experiencing in the upper right side of her mouth.
Due to decay that was causing the pain, Mrs Cooke, a customer manager, was advised to have root canal treatment followed by two teeth extractions and have a bridge installed.
Mrs Cooke said the treatment was carried out in three appointments: the first for the root canal, the second to prepare to install the bridge, and the third to extract teeth and the final bridge installation.
She said of the third appointment: "It was so painful I had to ask them to stop at times and they had to re-inject me with anaesthetic to make sure my mouth was numb.
"By the end of the treatment I was in tears and there was blood still coming out of my mouth, but the dentist insisted it would heal fine."
Overnight, Mrs Cooke's face became extremely swollen and she was resorted to taking strong painkillers.
She returned to the practice days later due to the persistent pain and swelling and was prescribed antibiotics.
Mrs Cooke said she could only eat soup over the Christmas period.
She contacted the Dental Law Partnership the following year, which analysed her dental records to discover what it described as a "catalogue of errors" dating back as far as 2005, as well as "disastrous treatment and costly consequences".
Mrs Cooke has suffered the loss of a tooth and will suffer the future loss of a further two teeth, as well as undergoing extensive restorative treatment.
Her case with mydentist, which is owned by IDH Group, was settled out-of-court for £26,000 in September this year.
A spokesman for IDH Group said: "Providing the highest standards of patient care is our priority. We would like to apologise for the experience Mrs Cooke has had."
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