Bengaluru : A accidental cut on the lips of a women patient by a dentist during an orthodontic procedure led to the dentist being held negligent and the women being awarded a compensation of Rs.60,000. The women after realizing that the procedure has left a big scar on her face approached the consumer court for compensation which held the dentist as being casual and unprofessional and holding him negligent.
The orthodontist performed a procedure on Woman’s front tooth when he accidentally cut her upper lip with a dental blade machine. After that, blood started to ooze out from the woman’s lip, so she asked for a mirror to check the amount of damage he had done to the lip. The dentist allegedly declined woman’s request and instead offered her a band-aid and asked her to leave; he said that it was a minor laceration. The dentist even took Rs 5000 for the service from the woman.After reaching home, the woman realised the extent of the injury was severe and went to a hospital since her lip was still bleeding profoundly. The doctors present at the hospital examined her wound and told her that the injury was severe enough that it will need five stitches.
When two days later, the bandage was removed, the woman was shocked to see that a large scar was formed from her lip to the nose.This led to the woman sending a legal notice to the dentist and seeking compensation of Rs 30 lakh. She also reached out to a consumer disputes redressal commission in Bengaluru.In consumer court the dentist’s lawyer said there had been a small laceration which had occurred neither due to the doctor’s negligence nor had it been done deliberately.The lawyer also stated that the dentist asked the woman to return to the clinic to get the wound fixed, but she declined and took treatment in some other hospital.The lawyer also claimed that the patient left the clinic fully well and she still needs to pay the dentist his pending fee of Rs 85,000.