AN Alresford woman has been awarded £20,000 in an out of court settlement after her dentist’s negligence led to the loss of four teeth.

Kathryn Vaughan, 31, sued Jonathan Drummond, of Berukin Dental Practice, on West Street, after his failure to diagnose her tooth decay and repair damage led to four of her teeth needing extracting and a further two needing root canal treatment and crowns.

Mrs Vaughan had experienced recurring tooth problems for years but it was just something she learnt to live with and to trust in her dentist. “It was only when Mr Drummond left and I saw a new dentist that it became clear that this could have been prevented.

Mr Drummond, who did not admit liability, had failed to diagnose and treat tooth decay at five of Vaughan’s teeth, which resulted in three of them needing to be removed and two requiring root canal treatment and crowns.

A fourth tooth was lost after Drummond fractured it whilst extracting the tooth next to it. This tooth could have been saved, but Drummond failed to treat the fracture, which led to its deterioration to the point where extraction was necessary.

Vaughan will now need four implants to replace her lost teeth which will involve bone grafting on each side of her mouth.

She said: “For years I’ve experienced these problems, which has been really painful and distressing, but it never crossed my mind that they were being caused by my dentist.”

Evidence provided by Vaughan’s lawyer, Emma Pearsall, from the UK’s leading specialist dental negligence law firm, the Dental Law Partnership, revealed that as well as failing to diagnose Vaughan’s dental issues properly, Drummond’s treatment was also very poor.

Pearsall commented: “Drummond had not diagnosed areas of decay which led to my client having recurrent problems.

“By filling the teeth without removing all the infection Drummond caused my client further pain and discomfort and left her suffering permanent and avoidable damage.”

Vaughan added: “I’m glad that this is settled and the compensation will go some way towards repairing the damage that has been done so I can move on from this horrible and distressing ordeal.

The Chronicle recently reported that the General Dental Council has criticised Mr Drummond, formerly of Battery Hill, Stanmore, and now of Edinburgh, for the “deplorable” standard of his work. He has not practiced since 2008 but is hoping to resume his career.

He has declined to discuss his time in Alresford.