Medical Reporter Daily Dawn + Dawn TV Report
London: A woman from Kent, England, has been awarded £10,000 in an out-of-court settlement after a clinic broke her jaw during a tooth extraction.
The extraction, which she said lasted ‘45 minutes’, left her with a broken jaw, a broken bone in her hand and a loose lip.
Emily Starling, 53, from Canterbury, went to a dental practice in east Kent in 2021, where she complained of pain in her upper left tooth.
During the extraction in May of that year, Starling heard a terrifying ‘loud crack’.
The dentist who extracted the tooth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, then told her that her jaw was broken and immediately stopped the extraction.
Starling suffered a number of complications after the incident, including an infection, sinus problems and a pus-filled throat.
Starling eventually underwent surgery in October 2021 to remove the tooth and the broken bone. While the procedure resolved the immediate physical problems, Starling says she still “worries” about her teeth and appearance.
Starling’s case was handled by Dental Law Partnership, a team of dental negligence lawyers.
The case was settled in December 2024 with a £10,000 settlement, although the dentist involved did not accept liability.
Speaking to PA Real Life about the effects, Emily said: “I still feel the effects of the dentist’s procedure today and I have to mentally adapt to living with these challenges. My facial structure has changed, and the left side of my mouth is crooked, and my lip is drooping.”
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