£50k payout for woman left in agony by dentist

A GREAT-GRANDMOTHER who suffered four years of agony after an operation to remove a tooth has accepted £50,000 compensation.

Rehana Musa, 72, sued dentist Dr Piotr Pietruszczak after he failed to consult her medical history before pulling out her wisdom tooth in 2008.

The procedure led to years of suffering for Mrs Musa, as the wound left behind failed to heal, despite numerous operations, including having part of her jaw removed. She said the operation had ruined her life.

"It is a horrible, terrible pain which keeps me awake at nights. I can't eat solid foods and it hurts to talk for long.

"I'm on three types of pain killers all the time and I've been told there's no chance of it healing.

"I have tried to take my own life before now and I'm seeing a psychiatrist.

"My husband and I have lost our retirement. We were meant to be enjoying this part of our lives and it is ruined."

Mrs Musa, who lives with her husband, Afzal, 73, in Dover Court, in Stanhope Street, Normanton, said the problems started in 2008.

She said: "I started having a problem where I kept catching my cheek between my teeth and it was bleeding a lot. I went to my GP and I was referred to the maxillofacial unit at the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, as it was then.

"They carried out a biopsy and the results said it was just an ulcer. They stitched it up and it healed. But a doctor there suggested I go to a dentist and have my wisdom tooth removed.

"He said he would write up notes on my medical history and give them to my dentist."

Mrs Musa booked the procedure with Dr Pietruszczak at the St Thomas Family Dental Centre, in St Thomas Road, Normanton.

"When I went to see Dr Pietruszczak, he asked me if my wisdom tooth was painful.

" I said no but that the people in the maxillofacial unit had sent me to get the tooth removed.

"He gave me an anaesthetic and pulled out the tooth. He didn't go through the notes beforehand."

In the days after the operation, Mrs Musa said she began to experience severe pain.

"It was keeping me awake all night," she said. "My mouth was leaking pus and bleeding.

"I tried everything, every pill and injection and nothing was making a difference."

She said she was referred by her GP once more to the maxillofacial unit.

She said: "They told me that the problem had been caused by medication I was taking for my osteoporosis.

"I had been taking it for three or four years and, because of that, the wisdom tooth wound could never heal.

"The dentist would have known this had he looked at my medical records but he didn't.

"When I look back on it I did feel slightly uneasy that he didn't take any medical details before removing the tooth. I had expected him to.

"But I just thought he knew what he was doing."

The St Thomas Road practice Dr Pietruszczak at which worked has since moved to Harrington Street, in Derby, and is part of the Integrated Dental Holdings Group.

A spokesman for the group said it did not wish to comment and confirmed Dr Pietruszczak no longer worked for the group.

Mrs Musa, who has four children, 17 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, then decided to take legal action against Dr Pietruszczak, contacting the Dental Law Partnership.

Dr Pietruszczak agreed to pay Mrs Musa £50,000 in an out-of-court settlement.

But Mrs Musa said money did not solve the problem.

She said: "I have had operations to remove part of my jaw and all sorts of other procedures. But nothing has worked, so I'm on pain killers all the time, which just makes me so sleepy.

"I'll use the money to pay for private treatment in the hope somebody might be able to do something about it but I doubt it. It's just money, it doesn't bring me back happiness in my life."

A spokeswoman for the Royal Derby Hospital said: "This patient received entirely appropriate care as an outpatient visiting our maxillofacial unit."

Dr Pietruszczak's solicitors were unavailable for comment.