Unchecked periodontal disease results in brain abscess and stroke
Her client first presented with periodontal disease in 2001. He went to his dentist regularly and evidence of the disease was documented. A periodontal chart was requested by his dentist in 2005, but despite these regular attendances, periodontal charting was not routinely undertaken and no referral was made for specialist treatment.
By 2013, Lindsay's client was regularly attending with pain, bleeding, extensive tooth mobility and deep pocketing. The LR7 tooth was by then 90 per cent mobile and he was treated with antibiotics for a recurrent tooth abscess, but the tooth was not extracted.
Around a year later, in March 2014, GM was suffering suppuration (pus), bad breath and depression, all of which were noted. In June 2014, he had a stroke caused by a brain abscess. This was due to blood borne bacteria from the unchecked periodontal disease. He has been left with impaired vision, epilepsy, fatigue, neurophysiological deficit and anxiety.
The case is unusual due to the timescale of more than 13 years of alleged negligence and the almost exclusive link between the bacteria found at surgery and its correlation with periodontal disease. Defences are imminent and the case continues.
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