Mrs Joanne Keating, a 58-year-old Teaching Assistant from Bromley, London, has been awarded £30,000 by her former dentist Dr Mohammed Riaz Ul Alam from Smiles Dental Practice, Westerham, Kent, with the help of dental negligence solicitors the Dental Law Partnership. The payment was awarded after her dentist failed to correctly diagnose and manage her advanced gum disease for 14
years, this resulted in Mrs Keating losing four teeth with future loss of a further three.
“He was my long-term dentist for 14 years and I always made sure to visit every six months as I am particular with my teeth. I’d always attend and Dr Riaz Ul Alam would say I was doing a great job, I used to think my teeth were great and I was doing a great job looking after them as I never really had
anything additional done until in August 2022, I suddenly noticed that a couple of my teeth were loose.” Mrs Keating recalled.
“I went back to Dr Riaz Ul Alam but he just said I was grinding my teeth etc, but anything he would’ve said I believed. I asked him to be referred for a second opinion at Kings College Dental Hospital and 6 months later once I got there, I realised how devastating this all was.” Mrs Keating
was diagnosed with advanced gum disease also known as periodontal disease and was advised that teeth required extraction.
“I feel absolutely devasted, I always tried to look after my teeth and never wanted to lose any of them, after the extractions I needed my sinus lifting where 2 teeth had been removed and I had to wait a
whole year for it to settle before getting implants. It was one of the worst times and the treatment was
quite major, I remember lying there thinking why am I even here,” Mrs Keating explained.
Frustrated with the experiences she had gone through, Mrs Keating contacted the Dental Law
Partnership in 2023. Further analysis revealed the extent of the poor dental treatment Mrs Keating
received from her dentist, where they failed to diagnose and adequately treat her gum disease for 14
years. As a result, Mrs Keating will require future extensive treatment which includes the loss of a
further three teeth with replacement implants – consequences which could have all been avoided.
“When I went to another dentist, she told me this was incompetence and that I should really do
something about this, the hospital also told me that the advanced gum disease should have been picked
up and treated,” Mrs Keating explained.
“I’ve had a lot of things done now, my teeth were not in a very good state, there’s not much bone left
and I do worry if they are going to even last. I’m never going to get over this.”
Amanda Pietrusiak of the Dental Law Partnership commented: “The distress and pain our client has
experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentist involved had provided more satisfactory
treatment, her problems could have been avoided.”
The Dental Law Partnership took on Mrs Keating’s case in 2023. The case was successfully settled in
July 2026 when Mrs Keating was paid £30,000 in an out of court settlement. The dentist involved did
not admit liability. Any patients who believe their dental professional has failed to appropriately
diagnose their gum disease them can find out more about this type of dental injury claim here.
