A father-of-two from Oldham has been awarded £42,500 in damages after bungled dental treatment cost him ELEVEN teeth and left the inside of his mouth looking ‘like a building site’.
Ian Lisle, 51, had up to three teeth taken out at a time and was given shoddy bridging work by dentist Michael Garside during his regular check-ups.
When Mr Lisle eventually went to another practitioner for implant he was told his teeth had been left to rot and were decaying beyond repair.
The self-employed tyre fitter now faces extensive and expensive implant treatment to replace 11 missing teeth which had been taken out.
Mr Lisle, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, later sued Dr Garside and after a four year legal battle has won compensation in an out-of-court settlement.
He said: “I’ll never know how Dr Garside could have let things get as bad they did. I was led to believe my oral health was much better than it was, when in fact, the complete opposite was true.
”I’ve still got a long journey ahead of me but I’m trying to move on now. Hopefully when I have the work done my smile will be back to normal.
”I am very conscious about the state of my teeth now and I find it difficult to smile and I don’t like being photographed.
”Your teeth can form the shape of your face and are very precious. What happened to me really affected my confidence.”
Mr Lisle said the only reason he found out the extent of the decay is because he had a single denture from when a tooth was knocked out playing rugby some years ago.
”It was a single denture and I hated wearing it and when I ended up losing it I went to a different dentist for an implant consultation and was told it was just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
”He said to me ‘I don’t know who your dentist is but look at this’ and showed me the x-rays.
“It was a right mess it looked like a building site in my mouth with all scaffolding-like metal in my gums from where Mr Garside had made mistakes.”
Mr Lisle was told by the implantologist that more of his teeth would have to be removed because of decay.
”It was horrifying and I couldn’t believe it. I’ll never know how it was allowed to get as bad as it did,” he said.
Mr Lisle first went to see Dr Garside at his surgery, M. Garside Dental Practice, in Lees, Oldham, in 1994 and went for regular consultations and exams for the next 14 years.
He added: “As far I knew, everything was fine with my teeth because I barely got any treatment for well over a decade.
“I went for regular check-ups and went ahead with treatments when he said I needed them.”
Problems began in 2005 after Dr Garside attempted to fix one of his teeth and was told it would have to be extracted.
The dentist then told him in 2007 he would need another three of his teeth taken out, then delivered the same news just one year later.
Mr Lisle said: “I couldn’t understand why I suddenly started losing teeth. Dr Garside also put a bridge in.
“I was very concerned because I hadn’t had any problems in the past then I was suddenly told I need to have so many of my teeth removed.”
It was when he went for a check-up on one occasion when a crown fell out and Dr Garside said he would have to extract it.
He said: ”I said to him ‘is there nothing else you can do?’. He said he could put a post in and remount but I said ‘at the rate you are going, I’m not going to have any teeth left’.
“Without a doubt he was taking the teeth out unnecessarily. Had he not been so neglectful they would not have been lost. It’s wrong, I put faith in him.
”With your teeth you only get one chance. All this could have been prevented. I just wonder how many other people have gone through this.
”He had botched up and it wasn’t until the solicitor got hold of my dental records and saw what he had done when we realised how bad it was.”
Mr Lisle claims Dr Garside damaged his jaw bone and took some of the bone away.
“At the time I had to have stitches in my jaw but I didn’t know the extent of the damage as you just your trust in people like dentists and doctors. I put my trust in him over a period of time,” he said.
“He basically neglected to do things at certain times like take x-rays. It was just this period of two years. Had he done such things at the time he should’ve done then this would not have happened.”
Mr Lisle’s lawyer Kate Chadwick of The Dental Law Partnership (DLP), said: “All dental professionals are expected to provide a reasonable standard of care when treating their patients, but Dr Garside failed in that obligation.
“The treatment provided during the period was either non-existent or very poor, despite clear signs intervention was needed.
“Mr Lisle has lost a number of teeth because of Dr Garside’s actions and now faces further treatment to replace his missing teeth.”
“The size of the settlement reflects the seriousness of Dr Garside’s negligence.”
Dr Garside, who did not admit liability, declined to comment.
A report on the surgery last year by the Care Quality Commission, said: ”There were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people’s needs.”
Image courtesy of Senior Airman Brett Clashman, U.S. Air Force, with thanks.
