David Simpkins has been my private Dentist since 2015 and I’ve never had an issue with his behaviour towards me in terms of causing unnecessary pain and discomfort until the 23rd January 2023.

I arrived at the practice for a routine dental examination, and during the examination David shoved a dental probe whether deliberately or not into a tooth cavity causing severe pain and swelling. He could see my distress as my cheek swelled so he decided to take X-rays.

The X-rays showed a cavity where he shoved his probe. David then said that he felt responsible and decided to extract the tooth or offered the alternative of “£1000 dental heroics” that ‘may not work and I may end up losing the tooth anyway. ‘

I agreed to extract and was happy with David extracting as he had extracted two other teeth with no issues.

This is when things took a turn for the worse and shoving the probe causing pain and swelling makes sense for David’s chosen method of extraction was to use dental pliers that resembled mole grips. He tried forcefully removing the tooth on two attempts and both times when he was pulling the pliers from side to side I physically stopped the procedure because it was so painful for me.

David then went in harder and snapped the crown from the roots and worryingly he seemed to enjoy causing me all the unnecessary pain and suffering in his botched attempt to remove my tooth.

On previous extractions David removed the top part of the tooth first, then the roots and I never had any pain issues whatsoever. David even commented years earlier how most Dentists use forceps that can end up being messy, painful and stressful for patients.

A few days later I made an official complaint to the Practice Manager and said to resolve the issue I wanted a refund and a written apology from David and I would find another Dentist.

I never got a reply about whether or not they would refund, but I did get a signed email from David with an apology and explanation of his actions. What was strange from the start is that he said, “You attended the practice for an emergency appointment with pain from the left and right side of your lower jaw.” I attended for a routine Dental Examination, but left the practice with those exact symptoms and after more than two weeks I still had a numb tongue, difficulty swallowing and signs of swelling. I also believe part of the root wasn’t completely removed.

In addition, and what was most disturbing is that he said “I don’t recall you asking me to stop the treatment.” I physically stopped the treatment on two occasions, but he still went in with such force the crown snapped off.

The Duke Street Dental Centre ethos says, “Your comfort and wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do.” From my experience with David Simpkins nothing could be further from the truth. A most unpleasant experience and a great disappointment.