A DAD has been awarded a £6,000 payout after claiming bungled dental work left him in intense pain for years and in need of expensive corrective treatment.
Dockworker and single parent Darren Aldous, 42, of Immingham, sued Dr Ruben Calvo Parra Martinez, Dr Guillermo Enrique Madriz Dominguez and Dr Ignacio Jose Duran Puertas, who were working at the Medimatch dental practice in Cleethorpe Road, Grimsby, at the time, after claiming they failed to diagnose and treat deep-rooted tooth decay in several of his teeth. Mr Aldous has had to have crowns fitted – treatment that he says could have been avoided if his tooth decay had been treated.
He agreed a £6,000 out-of-court settlement with the dentists, who no longer work at the practice.
Mr Aldous told the Grimsby Telegraph: "Being a lone parent, it affected me badly for a long time as I was unable to sleep and you are never the same in the morning.
"I lost confidence because the first thing people see when you meet is a smile and when people don't see a smile, you end up feeling isolated.
"I can feel the difference now that I am with the community dentist in Cleethorpes."
He added: "It is not about the money. It is about other people who may experience the same treatment. I was passed on to three different dentists.
"I have had to have root canal work done and will have to have that every ten years. That is going to cost between £4,000 and £5,000."
Mr Aldous said: "I went to Dr Martinez in June 2008 because I had really painful toothache. I was told I needed three fillings. With this being a routine treatment I wasn't worried at the time. I also told him I could feel the root of a tooth from a previous extraction, but he assured me it was my wisdom tooth."
Continued pain caused Darren to return to the Grimsby practice in October. Dr Dominguez took X-rays which showed he had significant decay in two teeth and a retained root left from a previous tooth extraction, which confirmed Mr Aldous' earlier suspicions.
However, it was claimed Dr Dominguez failed to treat his tooth decay, but removed the remaining root in November and gave him a filling in one tooth in March 2009.
Mr Aldous returned and had six fillings and two teeth restored by Dr Puertas in February and March 2010.
He said: "I'd had enough. It felt like appointment after appointment and an endless list of treatments, meaning I had to take a lot of time off work for dental appointments, which was hard because I'm a single parent.
"I knew I needed a second opinion. I remained in constant pain and had been for over two years. My teeth were in such a bad condition, my confidence plummeted and I had bad anxiety during this time."
Mr Aldous registered at a different practice soon after, where his new dentist, Dr Agata Siemasko, found extensive decay in several teeth.
The Dental Law Partnership, which specialises in dental negligence, took up Mr Aldous' case and says it was provided with evidence that he suffered as a direct result of the treatment he received at Medimatch.
Emma Pearsall, his lawyer from the DLP, said: "X-rays clearly showed several of Darren's teeth were decaying. We would claim each dentist had the opportunity to diagnose and treat this but failed to do so. Darren now has to undergo several root canal treatments and have crowns fitted as a result of their treatment."
Medimatch dental practice declined to comment and it is understood the dentists involved in Mr Aldous' case no longer work at the practice.
None of the dentists admitted liability.
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