A retired nurse has been awarded £50,000 by a dentist after he said a root canal treatment left him hospitalized for weeks with a missing tooth and a heart infection that may have cut his life by five years. Gerry White, 65, who lives in Stockport, Greater Manchester, says he received £50,000 in February after dental treatment at a dentist’s office in 2012 led to an ongoing abscess that caused infective endocarditis – a potentially fatal inflammation of the lining of heart valves.
He says the infection put the father-of-three in hospital for six weeks in November 2017 and left him needing heart valve replacement surgery in June 2018 – and he says doctors have told him his life expectancy may be shortened up to five years, as a result. Specialist dental negligence solicitors Dental Law Partnership claimed its investigations revealed poor root canal treatment by the dentist in 2012 was responsible for the life-threatening infection – which also led to a tooth being extracted meaning Gerry wears now dentures.
The practice said it is unable to comment on actions or clinical decisions made by any self-employed dentist, but wishes Gerry a “speedy recovery”. Gerry, who lives with his wife Louise, 66, and has two grandchildren, wants to encourage others not to “let it go” if they suspect something is wrong with their teeth because he feels “lucky” that the condition was recognized to him.
“It’s unbelievable that it all started with a little bit above my tooth,” Gerry told PA Real Life. “I wish something had been done sooner – and knowing it was avoidable in the first place.
“I didn’t realize there was anything wrong with my heart at the time, so if I hadn’t gone to the doctors, it could have been a lot more serious.”
Speaking about the impact of the compensation, he added: “It’s been amazing and we’ve been left with a nice amount of money left over for now. We bought one or two things that we promised ourselves, like a new TV, but that means we don’t have to worry too much about money.”
Gerry explained that he had never had any serious dental problems, apart from “crowding his teeth” when he was younger, which led to several extractions. He says he later began attending a dental office and said he received regular treatment between 2009 and 2017.
In 2012, Gerry said he visited the practice for a check-up with a dentist, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after he discovered a “small lump” on the top of his gums and they proceeded with treatment. Gerry said his dentist performed a root canal — though he claims the procedure wasn’t explained to him at the time — on one problem, the upper incisor.
“I knew (the dentist) was drilling and I’m used to fillings, so I wasn’t too worried and the little piece was gone,” Gerry said. “As a former healthcare paramedic, I would talk to doctors and nurses and you would trust what they said and what they did.”
Over the next few years, Gerry said he had ongoing problems with the abscess in his mouth around the root canal tooth. “I felt swollen sometimes and occasionally the abscess would burst which left a bad taste in my mouth,” she said.
“It was a bit of a nuisance but I didn’t think much of it at the time as the dentists had never seemed too concerned and had told me to keep an eye on it.”
However, in November 2017, Gerry said he suddenly started experiencing flu-like pain in his joints and systems and later found himself short of breath and struggling to climb stairs. He visited doctors and was told that his hemoglobin levels in his blood were extremely low and he had a temperature of 39.8C, so he was referred to Stepping Hill Hospital for further tests.
He said he was taken to A&E at Wythenshawe Hospital as he had become extremely short of breath. “The rest is history,” Jerry said.
“I vividly remember a doctor doing tests and asking me how long I had had a heart murmur, but as far as I knew I hadn’t. They finally found that there was an infection in my blood and there were many signs of infection around this problem tooth in my mouth.
“I was admitted to hospital on November 17th and didn’t get out for weeks until Christmas Eva – I had the tooth extracted on December 7th and only then did my infection start to subside.”
Gerry underwent surgery in June 2018 at the Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, to replace one of the valves in his heart due to infective endocarditis. “It was scary – I was told it could shorten my life by about five years and I’d probably need another replacement valve later,” Gerry said.
After his surgery, Gerry was driving with his wife, Louise, when they heard a radio advert for the Dental Law Partnership and decided to get in touch. With a nothing ventured, nothing gained mentality, Gerry didn’t expect anything to materialize – however, the Dental Law Partnership said he made quite a few discoveries.
He claimed that analysis of Gerry’s records revealed that the root canal treatment in 2012 had not been properly administered and the dentist had not clearly explained the procedure. They also claimed that the dentist had not used proper protective measures and had not properly cleaned the tooth. And they also claimed that this resulted in a chronic abscess that developed over several years, which was left untreated.
This produced the bacteria that led to infective endocarditis of the heart, all of which could have been prevented, the Dental Law Partnership said. Gerry says he has been left with a gap in his front teeth as a result of a tooth extraction, which makes him extremely “self-conscious” about laughing or smiling, and now wears dentures.
He says he also takes blood pressure tablets, aspirin and medication to regulate his heart rate, but otherwise feels healthy again. The Dental Law Partnership took on Gerry’s case in 2018 and it was successfully settled in February 2024, when Gerry was paid £50,000 in an out-of-court settlement – although it said the dentist involved did not admit liability.
The dental practice has not confirmed whether the dentist is still working at the practice. Justine Jones, of Dental Law Partnership, said: “The significant distress, pain and life-changing consequences our client suffered was completely unnecessary.
“If the dentist involved had provided more satisfactory treatment, his significant problems could have been avoided.” A spokesman for the practice said: “We are committed to providing clinical excellence and exceptional care for all our patients.
“Our aim is always to ensure that clinicians are adequately trained and well supported in our practices so that they can provide the highest quality dentistry every day. We are sorry to learn of this patient’s experience and wish him a speedy recovery.
“Unfortunately, we are unable to comment on the actions or clinical decisions made by any self-employed dentist.”
All patients who believe they may have received negligent dental care should visit: dentallaw.co.uk.
