BENGALURU: A woman from HSR Layout won a legal battle before the consumer commission without any legal assistance to prove the alleged deficiency in service and medical negligence on the part of a dentist, who damaged the tooth next to her wisdom tooth when she went to get it removed. She argued that it caused too much pain.
The Bangalore First Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directed Dr A Rahim Khan of Smile Lounge Dental Care at Indira Nagar to pay Rs 1 lakh compensation and Rs 5,000 litigation cost, in addition to a refund of Rs 14,000 spent for surgery for removal of the wisdom tooth, to the complainant.
“Expert opinion issued by the Karnataka State Dental Council clearly establishes that due to the removal of the wisdom tooth (No. 28), complications arose. Due to negligence and deficiency in service on the part of the dentist, the complainant suffered a lot of pain after the removal and also caused damage to tooth No.27 for which the dentist is liable to compensate,” the commission said.
The commission, comprising president Narayanappa, Members Jyothi N and Sharavathi SM, said it is clear that on the advice of Dr Rahim, another doctor carried out the procedure and failed to remove the complainant’s wisdom tooth fully. He left some pieces in the gum and caused damage to the tooth next to it, resulting in complications which made the complainant suffer a lot of pain for weeks. When she approached another dentist, a test revealed root loss of tooth No.27 and the complete distal surface of the said tooth and partial root of wisdom tooth, the commission added.
The complainant met Dr Rahim in August 2016 to get her two sensitive teeth of the lower jaw (frontline) treated. He told her that sensitivity was due to protruded tooth and the left side upper jaw wisdom tooth had erupted, which she should get removed before installing braces. He said that he will arrange for a good oral and maxillofacial surgeon for wisdom tooth extraction, who then did not perform the surgery properly in September 2016, which led to complications. Dr Rahim, however, denied the allegations.