A DENTIST has been slammed for putting a patient through “unnecessary suffering” after a botched filling left a woman unable to eat and sleep.

Claire Baker, a 50-year-old patient at Abbey Meads Dental Practice in North Swindon, had been visiting Dr Eva Rubio at the practice for regular check-ups since 2012.

In February 2014, Miss Baker felt a sharp pain in the tooth that had been filled by Dr Rubio the previous year.

A check-up revealed that she had lost her filling and that much of the tooth had disappeared. Dr Rubio’s solution was to fit a crown.

But only a week after the crown had been fitted, Miss Baker had to make an emergency appointment after suffering “excruciating toothache”.

Distressed, she said: “My jaw was agony and I was suffering from really bad headaches. Dr Rubio prescribed antibiotics and said they’d resolve the problem, but they didn’t help at all.”

Ten days later, and still in a lot of pain, Miss Baker returned to see Dr Rubio who said her front tooth would have to be extracted.

“I’d been seeing Dr Rubio for regular check-ups, and now I was suddenly being told I’d lose my front tooth. I was mortified and started to lose my confidence.”

But Miss Baker’s problems got worse. In April 2014 she had to book another emergency dental appointment because she was experiencing a throbbing pain at the tooth Dr Rubio had filled.

“I couldn’t sleep and I was struggling to eat. It was having a real upheaval on my life.”

Miss Baker finally saw a new dentist who was shocked to discover extensive decay in the patient’s teeth.

The Dental Law Partnership, a law firm that specialises in dental negligence, said that analysis of Miss Baker’s dental records revealed that Dr Rubio had “consistently failed to spot and treat decay in Miss Baker’s teeth that had been clearly visible in X-rays”. Miss Baker was awarded £7,000 in compensation.

Christine Salter ,of the Dental Law Partnership, said: “What our client went through was completely unnecessary. If the dentist had undertaken the proper treatment in the first place the suffering she experienced could have been avoided. We hope the compensation she receives goes some way towards paying for any corrective treatment required.”

Dr Eva Rubio responded to the complaints. She said: "While I do not agree with the facts as presented by The Dental Law Partnership, I am limited in what I can say due to patient confidentiality.”