200,000 at risk from uninsured
ROGUE dentists with no insurance are treating thousands of unsuspecting patients.
Experts say more than 200,000 people are at risk from practitioners who defy laws requiring them to have full insurance.
More than 100 people have already sought legal help after having to foot their own bills for corrective surgery following botched work.
Many are left in debt and others simply can’t afford to pay for more treatment and have been left disfigured and in agony.
The General Dental Council watchdog insists all dentists with their own practice must have insurance or indemnity cover costing £3,500-£20,000 a year.
Although new laws were introduced in July making it a criminal offence to practise without cover, there are still hundreds of uninsured dentists. Legal experts are now demanding tougher measures.
Chris Dean of the Dental Law Partnership said: “We estimate there are currently more than 200,000 patients potentially at risk from dentists operating without indemnity insurance.”
Just last week South Africanborn Amir Kamburov was jailed for 24 weeks by magistrates in Wimbledon for dishonesty and practising unlawfully as a dentist. He had already been struck off and served a jail term for misconduct and practising without a licence, so had no insurance.
Botched
One of his patients ran up a £7,000 debt for treatment on her jaw which Kamburov botched. The Surrey victim, 31, who did not wish to be named, now has agonising problems and cannot afford the cost of correction.
Last year the GDC received 2,990 new complaints, a huge 90 per cent increase on 2011. Most related to botched treatment such as poorly fitted fillings and failed implants. And many patients finding it impossible to get compensation. The Dental Law Practice has dealt with more than 100 cases of uninsured dentists over the past two years, and in some cases dentists simply disappear without trace.
Around 28 per cent of 40,000 dentists in the UK qualified abroad without little or no training in Britain. A recent study showed that of 95 cases involving foreign-trained dentists disciplined for poor treatment, 20 did not attend the hearing and 21 did not have indemnity cover – more than a fifth of cases.
During the last three years 30 dentists have appeared before the GDC’s disciplinary panel for having no insurance.
In the case of jailed Amir Kamburov, his victim had no idea he had already been struck off when she trusted him to correct a painful long-term jaw problem after visiting his surgery in Morden, southwest London in 2011.
Kamburov claimed discovered Mr Kamburov was not registered I was confused and shocked. Now I am also very angry. It was the last hope for me. I am still experiencing pain in my jaw and it is getting progressively worse.
“I am unable to sleep. My jaw locks up and I am unable to eat. I have not seen another specialist. I do not know who I can trust any more. I have paid more than £7,000. I am unable to start again and pay for my treatment.”
Her case is not the only shock-