Jennifer Hepburn, a 45-year-old West End performer, has been awarded £11,000 in an out-of-court settlement after her dentist pulled out the wrong tooth. The incident occurred in June 2025 at a surgery in Southwark, central London, where she sought to have a broken tooth on the lower left side removed.
Painful procedure and shocking discovery
Hepburn, who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome affecting connective tissue, warned the dentist to use minimal force to prevent severe bleeding. Despite requesting extra care, including more local anaesthesia, she experienced enormous pain during the procedure. “My body started shaking uncontrollably from the pain and distress. The nurse simply held me down while the dentist continued pulling at the tooth. I felt completely powerless,” she said.
After returning to her car, Hepburn looked in the mirror and realized the wrong tooth had been removed. “My partner was horrified by the state I was in. I looked in the car mirror and immediately realised the dentist had pulled out the wrong tooth. By this point I was shaking so badly that I couldn’t even hold a glass of water,” she added.
Confirmation and second surgery
At a review appointment, the practice confirmed the error. Hepburn requested a referral elsewhere and needed to be completely sedated for the correct tooth extraction. She suffered weeks of pain and facial swelling, forcing her to cancel rehearsals and miss work as a singer. “Four to six weeks after I was still in constant pain with significant facial swelling,” she said.
Hepburn’s dental phobia worsened. She said, “I am now terrified of going to the dentist. When I contacted the new practice to find out what happened and to correct it, I was shaking uncontrollably due to fear and distress.”
Legal action and settlement
Hepburn contacted the Dental Law Partnership in 2025, which found that the dentist had wrongfully extracted a healthy tooth, leading to unnecessary loss and costly implant needs. The case was settled in April 2026 for £11,000. The dentist did not admit liability.
Rebecca McVety of the Dental Law Partnership said, “The distress and pain our client has experienced was completely unnecessary. If the dentist involved had provided more satisfactory treatment, her problems could have been avoided.”
