Mum ‘permanently disfigured’ after dentist visit saw ‘balloon’ face

A mother says she was left permanently disfigured after being burned by bleach during a routine dentist appointment. Claire Shorrock’s face ballooned up after a seemingly simple root canal and she was rushed to hospital in “significant distress”.

She was kept overnight and had to wear a Covid mask when she returned home because her disfigured face scared her young children. It turned out that the dentist failed to put a preventative guard in her mouth before starting the procedure, so the sodium hypochlorite filled her mouth and went straight into her tissue. While the swelling eventually went away, Claire, 38, says her lip has been permanently disfigured since the incident.

She said: “My young children, one of whom is autistic, found my face terrifying and I was reduced to wearing a Covid mask at home to hide the swelling. I was left in constant pain from the infection, which reduced me to only eating diet shakes, and my lip has been permanently disfigured ever since.”

Teaching assistant Claire was a patient at her practice in Preston, Lancashire, between 2008 and 2020, where she was mainly treated by two dentists. In 2019, she had persistent problems with one of her top teeth, where a filling fell out and then the replacement crown also failed and the tooth became infected. Then, in 2020, he was told he needed to have a root canal to treat a tooth that had developed decay.

But she said: “As soon as the dentist started to drill my tooth I was hit with an overwhelming smell of bleach and started to feel a sharp pain in my face. It was absolutely unbearable and I couldn’t help but scream. The dentist thought I had gone into anaphylactic shock because my face started to swell so quickly and I was sent to hospital in an ambulance.”

The review by the Dental Law Partnership (DLP) claimed that several dental errors had occurred under the care of the two dentists. It was argued that the tooth would not have decayed so much if the first dentist had provided better treatment, avoiding the need for a root canal.

And if the second dentist had used the proper guards, Claire’s hypochlorite injury and subsequent hospitalization would also have been avoided. Claire also had to have two teeth removed due to untreated decay and may need four implants.

She added: “I still have nightmares about my hospital experience and feel extremely nervous about going to the dentist now. The whole experience affected me so much.

“My lips feel altered every time I speak, my speech has changed, and I’m still dealing with several dental issues, including gaps in my mouth after extractions that will require expensive implants.”

Claire took legal action and was awarded £14,500 in an out-of-court settlement. The dentist did not admit his liability either.

Tim Armitage of the Dental Law Partnership said: “The significant suffering and pain our client experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentists involved had provided more satisfactory treatment, her problems could have been avoided.”