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By NG WAN CHING
DESPERATE for relief from the pain of a severe toothache, he rushed to a dental clinic closest to his home in Yishun.
But instead of relief, he claims to have suffered more pain.
He alleged that the dentist, in trying to extract his left lower wisdom tooth, fractured it badly.
She also made several deep cuts in the gum around the tooth, he claimed.
Not only did she fail to extract the tooth, she allegedly told Mr Ven (not his real name) in a rude manner that she was very busy.
Mr Ven, 27, told The New Paper: 'She said to me, 'You are very annoying. I've got many patients waiting outside. You'd better go to the hospital'.
'Then she left a gauze pad in my mouth and asked me to leave the room.'
The patient and dentist are not identified for legal reasons.
By then, Mr Ven had a pounding headache and could hardly contain his pain.
In tears
'I was in tears and yet she treated me like I was the one causing her trouble,' said the security officer, who is unmarried.
His mother, who had accompanied him to the dentist on 14 Sep, then took him to their family dentist in Serangoon Road.
Unfortunately for Mr Ven, the family dentist could not solve his problem either.
Said Mr Ven: 'He said that there was already too much damage around the tooth.
'He said I had to wait until the cuts had healed before he could help me to extract the broken roots of the wisdom tooth left inside my gum.'
Mr Ven's family dentist is away on a trip.
The dentist's clinic assistant confirmed that Mr Ven had visited the clinic on 14 Sep. 'If I'd known that this was going to happen, I would have made the longer journey to see my family dentist,' he said.
The journey from Yishun to Serangoon Road takes about 15 minutes by taxi.
He complained to the Singapore Dental Association soon after about the alleged shoddy treatment he received from the first dentist.
A spokesman for the Singapore Dental Association's Ethics Committee told The New Paper that it is investigating the case.
Weeks of pain
Mr Ven said his suffering continued for weeks after his traumatic visit to the dentist.
'That was on 14 Sep. Till today, I am still in pain. Sometimes, after I eat and brush my teeth, I can feel small pieces of the broken tooth coming out of my mouth. I can spit them out,' he said.
But at least he can now eat.
He claims he could not eat anything for days after his botched tooth extraction.
For a few weeks, he ate only porridge.
'This was the worst pain I have ever suffered. I had piles before and had an operation for it. But this was far worse.
'When she broke my tooth, it felt like the pain was shooting up. 'Now I am still waiting for the gums to totally heal before I can go to my family dentist to get the roots extracted.
'He told me he would have to open up the gums before taking the broken roots out,' said Mr Ven, who still has to take painkillers twice a week.
The first dentist did not respond to repeated calls and messages from The New Paper.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
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