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A father already “terrified of needles” has received a £17,000 settlement after a dentist’s local anaesthetic needle snapped off at the back of his mouth and left him with permanent nerve damage.
Joe Woollen, 41, a HGV driver and father-of-six from Medway, Kent, said he had not visited the dentist since the age of 13 as he is “terrified of needles”, but after experiencing “unbearable toothache”, he booked an appointment at The Vale Dental Clinic in London in 2021.
After attending an appointment with Dr Rajarajeshwari Krishnamurthy at the Golders Green practice, he said he was advised that the tooth would need to be removed at the end of July that year.
On the day of the tooth extraction, after several anaesthesia injections were administered to numb his mouth, followed by a block injection, Joe said he noticed the dentist and her assistant “fumbling around” as they could not find the needle from the end of the syringe.
He said an X-ray at hospital the next day showed the 2.1cm needle was entirely lodged in the soft tissue at the back of his mouth on the right side of his face, next to his jaw, which led to an operation under general anaesthetic to remove the needle and then have the tooth extracted.
Joe said he was left with severe facial swelling which made him look “like the Elephant Man” and it has caused permanent nerve damage – meaning he dribbles, cannot feel the bottom right side of his face and often bites into his cheek and lip without realising.
Specialist dental negligence solicitors, the Dental Law Partnership, took on the case, which was successfully settled in July 2024 when Joe was paid £17,000 in an out-of-court settlement – although the dentist involved did not admit liability.
Joe told PA Real Life: “I didn’t go to the dentist from the age of 13 because I didn’t like needles, and when I finally did, that happened.
“Afterwards I was having nightmares for months, literally waking up, sweating and shouting – my missus and kids were scared.
“I just kept waking up thinking I was swallowing needles, it was horrible.
“I’m never going back (to the dentist) – I’m done, I’m out.”
In 2021, Joe, who has six children and lives with his 31-year-old wife, Becky, a swimming teacher, said he started experiencing agonising toothache which kept him awake for two days – and painkillers did “nothing” to alleviate his symptoms.
He said he had not visited the dentist for more than two decades due to his fear of needles, but after running out of options, he knew he needed to book an appointment.
“I’m terrified of needles … and rightly so,” Joe said.
“I just had unbearable toothache, I was awake for two days, and at midnight on a random Thursday or something, I just booked (an appointment).”
Joe attended an appointment with Dr Krishnamurthy at The Vale Dental Clinic, Golders Green, London, for a routine tooth extraction after being given a temporary filling due to toothache.
He said he was advised that the tooth would need to be removed at the end of July 2021 – but he could not believe what happened during the extraction.
“She (the dentist) gave me a couple of injections and then she started trying to pull (the tooth) out, but I could still feel all the pain, so they gave me a load of injections,” Joe explained.
“It still wasn’t working and then she gave me something called a block anaesthetic injection, and (it felt like) she pushed this needle into the back of my head as hard as she could. It was horrible.
“When she pulled the syringe out, she put it on the side and she said, ‘Okay, we’ll go outside for 20 minutes and let it take hold’, so I went outside for 20 minutes.”
When returning to the dental room, Joe said he found the dentist and the assistant looking around the room as they had realised the needle was missing from the syringe used to administer his anaesthetic.
He continued: “She pulled the tray out and was fumbling around and she was talking to her assistant.
“They couldn’t find the end of the syringe, the needle, and then they were reaching around in my mouth … like a vet was trying to help a cow give birth – that’s how it felt.
“They had pushed it so far in it had snapped off, and she just sent me home and told me she was going to refer me to an oral surgeon in case it (the needle) was still in my head.”
Joe said he received a call the next morning, telling him to visit A&E immediately and, after arriving at Queen Victoria Hospital in Crawley, he had an X-ray.
He said the surgeon at the hospital and other staff were in “complete disbelief” looking at the results, which showed the 2.1cm needle was entirely lodged in the soft tissue of his gum on the right side.
“The hospital staff couldn’t believe it; they were literally queueing to look at this X-ray,” Joe said.
“They were laughing because they’d never seen anything like it. The surgeon said, ‘I can’t believe this is real’.
“But when the surgeon finally called me in, he explained that because there was a foreign object in my head, they were worried about sepsis.”
Joe later underwent an operation under general anaesthetic to remove the needle, which he said involved making more than 100 small incisions in his gum to “try to find (the needle)”, and then had the original tooth extracted.
He said this led to severe facial swelling and he has been left with permanent nerve damage.
“My whole throat and side of my head was swollen up – I looked like the Elephant Man,” he said.
“I have lost all feeling in my lower jaw… and I dribble now. I bite through my cheek so my mouth’s bleeding and I don’t even notice because I can’t even feel it.
“It has knocked my self-confidence massively.”
Joe said he was advised by the hospital surgeon who removed the needle to contact the Dental Law Partnership in August 2021, and it took on the case soon after.
The Dental Law Partnership said analysis of Joe’s records revealed that had the dentist involved used reasonable care with the local anaesthetic injection procedure, the incident could have been avoided.
Moreover, the firm said she should have recommended immediate admission to A&E rather than allowing Joe to wait until the next day for further advice, which could have reduced the severity of his issues.
Joe said he is pleased with the settlement, which will most likely go towards family holidays and this year’s Christmas presents for his children.
Although Joe is frustrated the dentist involved did not admit liability, he said he is “happy with the decision” and wants to “move on as quickly as possible”.
He added: “I’m just praying to God that I don’t have to have any more work done.”
In response, Dr Krishnamurthy said in a statement: “I would like to make it clear that I do not agree with the facts as conveyed by the Dental Law Partnership, but I cannot provide details of this patient’s treatment and management because of my professional duty to protect the confidentiality of my patients.
“This claim was resolved by way of an out-of-court settlement, with no admission of liability on my part.
“I take pride in providing the highest standards of treatment and care to all my patients, and I have only ever done my best for this patient.”
