Woman Patient Sues Dentist for £698

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 651, 1 May 1929, Page 11

Woman Patient Sues Dentist for £698

INHALED A TOOTH ILL FOR THREE YEARS Alleging that she had been prevented from following her usual occupation for three and a-haif years, because of a tooth which had been inhaled into her lung while having her teeth extracted. Isabella Vera Gwilliam, spinster, of Auckland. proceeded against Arthur M. Carter, dentist, of Auckland, for compensation and damages amounting to £698, before Mr. Justice Blair at the Supreme Court this morning. ITR. J. J. SULLIVAN appeared for x A plaintiff and Mr. K. N. Moody for cLeefndant. Plaintiff claimed that Carter had been guilty of negligence and had failed to recover and remove the tooth she had inhaled. Special damages amounting to £l9B Is, comprising £ISO wages for three and a-half years, and doctors’ fees amounting to £IS Is. were claimed. In addition special damages amounting to £SOO were asked for. Mr. Sullivan said that in 1924, plaintiff. who had been suffering from biliousness, had been ordered by the doctor to have her teeth extracted as she was suffering'from pyorrhea. She had gone to Carter, the defendant, and had all her teeth extracted, for which operation she held a receipt for £2 3s. That night she had suffered from the effects of the general anaesthetic administered, and next morning had experienced a choking sensation and irritation of the chest, which gradually developed into a cough, necessitating the calling of a doctor before a week had passed. The doctor attended her for some months, but had no thought of any foreign substance in the lung. For some IS months she suffered from slight haemorrhages and a severe one made her call another doctor in. He also treated lier without knowledge of any foreign substance, but on his suggestion she went into the Auckland Hospital to be X-rayed in June. 1927. The picture showed a dark substance in the lung. Nothing further happened until June, 1928, when plaintiff returned from a holiday. “Coming in the door of her home she felt a hard substance in her throat,” said Mr. Sullivan. “She put her handkerchief up to her mouth and the tooth came up her throat into her handkerchief.” The girl had to remain in bed for a fortnight after this. Her mother and sister had seen Carter immediately after the occurrence. Another X-ray photograph taken showed that the black substance had disappeared from the lung. Mr. Sullivan said it was Carter’s duty to have counted all the teeth to make sure that no tooth or part of a tooth could go down her throat. “I have been unsuccessful in getting even one dentist to act as a witness for me,” complained Mr. Sullivan. “They have been very charming to me, but they have been as hard as rock when 1 tried to get them to act as witnesses. I have tried ten of them.” Evidence was given by Isabella Vera Gwilliam along the lines of Mr. Sullivan’s address. Dr. Murray, who administered the anaesthetic said the haemorrhages could be caused by a tooth in the lung. It, was possible that the tooth might slip down without Carter’s knowledge. Not even the most careful operator could avoid such accidents. . (Proceeding.)