A caretaker was left struggling to breathe for two years after part of his tooth was left wedged in his sinuses following a botched dental extraction.
Mark Shire, suffered with chronic sinusitis which left him struggling to sleep and work due to constant pain and a blocked nose made it hard to breathe.
The 58-year-old from Marlborough in Wiltshire, originally visited the dentist in January 2020 to remove two teeth on the upper left side of his mouth which were causing him pain.
But after the extractions he was still in pain and his gum was not healing.
Eventually, after two years of suffering, a scan revealed part of one of the extracted teeth situated in his sinuses, he had it removed and decided to take legal action.
A CT scan revealed he had left-sided sinusitis that was caused by a piece of tooth pushed into his sinus
Mark Shire, 58, suffered with chronic sinusitis which left him struggling to sleep and work due to constant pain and a blocked nose made it hard to breathe
‘I knew things weren’t going right as my dentist had a real hard job getting the teeth out,’ Mr Shire said.
‘The whole experience was very scary. I’m so lucky it was eventually caught, and I just never thought it would all be because of a dental extraction,’ he added.
After the initial extraction Mr Shire was instantly left in pain and was advised that his gum wasn’t healing well.
A year later he returned to the same dental practice in pain and was prescribed with antibiotics and his dentist cleaned out the tooth socket.
For two years, Mr Shire suffered sinus issues, such as terrible headaches, a blocked nose and a bad taste in his mouth.
He said: ‘In January 2022, I visited a medical practice for the sinus pain and congestion as I didn’t ever think it’d be related to my teeth.
‘They gave me antibiotics and nasal sprays but the problems continued.
‘I was then seen by a specialist in the ear, nose, and throat department.
‘Despite multiple courses of antibiotics, I was experiencing foul-smelling thick green mucus coming out of the left side of my nose and in my throat, facial pain on the left side and left sided headaches.’
Sinusitis is usually caused by an infection and in most cases it will clear up in about four weeks on its own, according to the NHS.
However, some medicines can help if the infection takes a long time to clear up.
It’s common following a cold or flu and can cause pain around your cheeks, eyes and forehead, a blocked nose and mucus, a headache and toothache, the NHS says.
In June 2022, Mr Shire was referred to hospital where a CT scan revealed he had left-sided sinusitis that was caused by a piece of tooth pushed into his sinus.
‘The sinusitis made me feel like I had a permanent cold,’ he said.
‘The blocked nose made it hard to breathe, and I always had a horrible taste in my mouth from the pus that was draining.
‘I often struggled to sleep and couldn’t go to work sometimes because the headaches were so bad.
‘The whole experience was very scary. I’m so lucky it was eventually caught, and I just never thought it would all be because of a dental extraction.’
Following his ordeal Mr Shire went back to his dentist in November that year to tell her what had happened as a result of her treatment.
But he claims he had an x-ray taken, yet received no apology for the botched extraction.
In May last year, he was operated on under general anesthetic where surgeons removed the tooth fragment left in his sinus.
‘I had to take two weeks off work to recover. After that, my sinus issues cleared and healed,’ Mr Shire explained.
Mr Shire decided to take legal action and was given an £8,400 payout, but the dentist involved did not admit liability.
Further analysis from the Dental Law Partnership found the tooth extractions led to a tooth fragment fracturing away and being pushed into the sinus.
It also found no attempt was made to locate or remove it or refer Mr Shire to get it remedied.
Heather Owen of the Dental Law Partnership said: ‘The distress and pain our client has experienced was completely unnecessary.
‘If the dentist involved had provided more satisfactory treatment, his problems could have been avoided.’
Source: Mail Online
