Dentist failed to document that treatment options and risks were explained

Summary 167 |

Mr F sought emergency dental treatment because of pain in a tooth that supported a bridge.


What happened

The dentist carried out root canal treatment, which resulted in the bridge debonding.

Eventually the tooth went black.

What we found

Mr F's treatment was reasonable but there were no records to show that treatment options and associated risks had been properly explained to him, so Mr F had not given valid consent for the treatment to go ahead. However, we could not say that the outcome for Mr F would have been different if the treatment options had been fully explained.

Putting it right

The dentist wrote to Mr F to acknowledge failings, apologise and explain what action will be taken to learn from these events.

Health or Parliamentary
Health
Organisations we investigated

A dental practice

Location

Cambridgeshire

Complainants' concerns ?

Did not apologise properly or do enough to put things right

Did not explain how to take complaint further

Replied with inaccurate or incomplete information

Result

Apology