'Left looking like a werewolf' by botched dentistry

A DISTRAUGHT woman says she was left looking "like a werewolf" after a Withernsea dentist botched her treatment.

Doctor Eric Duodu, 58, gave the patient dental bridges so oversized that she was left buck-toothed and frightened to go out in public.

The woman told the General Dental Council she feared she could not leave her house after the treatment at the Lighthouse Dental Practice in Withernsea because she "looked like a freak".

She said: "I couldn't even close my mouth properly, my lips would not touch.

"The only way I could describe myself was 'werewolf-like'. I just could not believe my eyes, I was speechless."

A General Dental Council panel has imposed conditions restricting Dr Duodu's treatment of patients, although he has been allowed to keep practising.

A tribunal heard the woman, known as Patient A, went to see Dr Duodu to have implants fitted before having the bridge fitted to fill in the gaps left by missing teeth.

She went through months of pain and distress because of Dr Duodu's treatment, the tribunal heard.

After the initial treatment, she went back to see Dr Duodu and he agreed the bridge was too big, and persuaded her to let him arrange a replacement.

In the meantime, she was left with a temporary fix that she claims left her unable to speak properly and so self-conscious she had to hide her mouth with her hand.

The replacement bridge Dr Duodu had arranged also turned out to be far too big.

The woman, who had by this time forked out thousands of pounds for the private treatment, said: "I felt helpless.

"I've gone through enormous stress, had infections producing pus and been in pain all the time.

"I feel like I've been mistreated, robbed and injured. I'm still in therapy for the correction of what Dr Duodu has done to me."

One of the woman's badly fitted implants also lost its crown on three separate occasions.

Another of the implants was fitted directly over a nerve, which later had to be removed as a result.

After the patient complained, an audit of Dr Duodu's work revealed several cases of poor treatment.

Dr Duodu has run the Lighthouse surgery as its principal since 1985, having qualified at the University of Ghana in the 1970s.

Dr Duodu, of Hull Road, Withernsea, admitted making errors while fitting the implants and failing to provide Patient A with written treatment plans.

He denied that the bridges were badly fitted.

Under the terms of the conditions imposed on him, Dr Duodu will be required to appoint a mentor and carry out a series of training assignments.

He will also be barred from carrying out implantology – inserting metal elements into gums to help alter the position of teeth.

Panel chairman Gill Madden said: "Your treatment created a significantly bulbous appearance in Patient A's mouth, and made it stick out inappropriately.

"You have conceded that in the course of the treatment you failed to adequately recognise that the complexity of the treatment was beyond the level of your training and experience.

"The panel have heard from Patient A that she had suffered considerable pain and ongoing distress as a result of the treatment you provided to her.

"The panel is of the view that the risk of repetition remains, and also that the treatment fell so far below the standards expected it is necessary to find impairment to maintain public confidence in the profession."