Welsh woman 'scared to eat' as dental treatment went wrong

Tracey Dowling, 58, from Caerphilly, was awarded the money from her former dentist after she was found been "inappropriately provided" with a specialist treatment that left her paranoid.

At first, Mrs Dowling had six veneers installed by mydentist in Reading, in summer 2022, after deciding she wanted to improve her smile, and said she was "over the moon". 

Mrs Dowling had only had the veneers a few months before they fell out (Image: Dental Law Partnership) However, within months of the initial treatment, the veneers fell off, meaning Mrs Dowling had to return to Reading to have them recemented, after moving to Caerphilly to care for her terminally ill mother. 

This was the first in a long line of costly and invasive restorative treatments, and also led to her missing the death of her mother due to travelling for a dental appointment. 

This left Mrs Dowling "devastated", as she recalled the moment she got a call about her mother's death while driving back to Wales.

Despite this first repair, Mrs Dowling experienced further issues with her veneers falling off "several more times" and even got referred to a specialist who told her she "should never have been a candidate" for the treatment in the first place. 

Tracey Dowling has spent almost £20,000 on restorative treatment (Image: Dental Law Partnership) As a result, she was told she would now need multiple crowns on the affected teeth. 

She recalled: “The restorative treatment has taken months - and we worked out that I’ve spent more than 28 hours in the dentist chair with my specialist!

"The treatment has cost me nearly £20,000, and I had to use some of the proceeds from my mum’s house to cover the costs.”

Concerned that she may have received negligent treatment, she contacted the Dental Law Partnership in December 2022, and research into her records revealed veneers were never an "appropriate treatment due to her dental history", with the firm asserting that an "alternative treatment" could have avoided all the "inconvenience, upset and significant remedial work". 

Mrs Dowling said the emotional damage left her paranoid and with nightmares of her teeth falling out (Image: Dental Law Partnership) Mrs Dowling said that the "emotional impact" has been severe, along with the "physical disruption" caused. 

She said: "I was so scared to eat because I was worried about swallowing veneers if they popped off. I lost a lot of weight as a result, and would also regularly have nightmares about my teeth falling out."

Kyle Padley of the Dental Law Partnership commented: “The significant distress, pain and inconvenience our client has experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentist involved had provided more satisfactory treatment, her problems could have been avoided.” 

The Dental Law Partnership took on the case in 2022, and the case was successfully settled out of court in July 2024, when Mrs Dowling was paid £15,000.  The dentist involved did not admit liability.

A spokesperson for mydentist said the care Mrs Dowling received fell below expectations. They said: “Providing the highest quality dental care to our patients is our first priority and we deeply regret that, on this rare occasion, it fell below our expectations.”