Dentist struck off after patient bled to death hours after he extracted ten of her teeth
A dentist has been banned from practising for a year after one of his patients bled to death only hours after he extracted ten of her teeth.
Tushar Patel, a dentist who worked at Confidential Clinics in Purley, Surrey, treated a woman suffering from advanced gum disease, known as Patient A, in the summer of 2017.
She had been taking a blood-thinning medicine called Warfarin for a rare blood condition that causes clotting.
Mr Patel removed all of her upper teeth during two appointments within a week, but failed to warn her of the increased risk of bleeding she faced because of the tablets she was taking, a dental panel heard.
Hours after her final appointment she was rushed to A&E after collapsing at home with "bleeding from her mouth", but died at Kings College hospital on July 19, 2017.
A coroner determined that the medical cause of death was haemorrhage from the tooth extraction site, Warfarin treatment and dental extraction.
Warfarin has been commonly used to treat blood clots for over 50 years, but the risk of serious bleeding complications has been of widespread concern to dentists.
The General Dental Council (GDC) was informed of the incident and a professional conduct hearing last week declared his fitness to practice was impaired.
It ruled that Mr Patel, who had over 30 years experience as a dentist, failed to “weigh up the risks” of his treatment and did not dress the patient’s wounds properly.
He had first examined Patient A in May 2013 when he diagnosed her with advanced periodontal, or gum, disease and planned to extract some of her teeth at their next appointment.
But she did not return to the practice for another four years- when she complained of her “teeth falling out” and told Mr Patel of the Warfarin she had been taking to treat her condition.
Despite outlining her treatment on a medical history form before the extraction, the GDC heard how Mr Patel failed to carry out the appropriate checks designed to assess the chances of post-operative bleeding.
The report concluded that Mr Patel breached clinical care and decided his behaviour is fundamentally “incompatible with remaining on the register”.
Mr Patel's registration to practice was suspended for 12 months, which was the maximum period available to the panel.
He accepted "the most serious consequences of your actions" and expressed remorse and apologised to the patient’s family, the GDC report added.
