Hundreds of former patients of Mr Desmond D’Mello, who are now clients of ours, have had their say on their experiences with the media dubbed ‘Dirty Dentist’. D’Mello was secretly filmed by a whistle blower ignoring important infection control protocols, such as failing to wash his hands and change gloves between patients, as well as using unsterlised equipment.
The result is that many of his former patients are now seeking compensation and claiming with confidence with our specialist Daybrook Dental Negligence Team. We’ve blogged a lot about what our clients have had to say about D’Mello so far, but the trend when it comes to his gloves is a reoccurring trend.
Hundreds of the clients that we are now acting for have all said that they are confident that the allegations about Mr D’Mello reusing and / or not changing his gloves are entirely true. The practice was often very rushed, and many recall now that he would often call patients in whilst already wearing gloves; meaning he may well have never changed them between patients.
Many have said that he would often rush down the corridor to reception and handle notes and papers himself whilst still wearing the same gloves. Many of our clients who were all former patients of his have been able to recall similar experiences when it comes to the issue of his gloves.
The thing is though, very few people ever picked up on it as a problem. As we have said before, practically all of our clients agree that he was a nice man and no one ever had a problem with him until now. He was good at making people feel comfortable and no one ever thought for one second that he’d be putting their safety in jeopardy.
We put our trust and our lives in the hands of qualified practioners like D’Mello, so very few people actually noticed that the glove issue was a problem. Really, very few questioned it, and very few even consciously noticed it at the time. Only now the story has broken have they been able to recall such details and realise the seriousness of it all.
I’ve never once noticed whether my dentist changes her gloves. I’m hoping she does, as I quite like her if I’m honest; but I, like the former patients of D’Mello, have always simply trusted that hygiene was a standard thing that would always be done right. Only now he has been caught have people realised the extent and severity of what was actually going on.
Some of our clients actually left the practice many years ago because they had noticed that he never changed gloves, and noticed that instruments would often be displayed out as soon as you started your appointment, leading to suspicions that they hadn’t been changed or sterilised between patients. The type of people who noticed this and subsequently left all generally work(ed) in fields where hygiene was a big thing for them, so they picked up on it.
I work for an injury law firm so I constantly notice health and safety hazards and breaches wherever I go! It’s simply tuned in to my nature given my career. But others who have no knowledge of the sorts of things wouldn’t pick up on it unless it was pointed out to them – just like we have seen here with the former D’Mello patients.
One former patient advised me that she could taste something ‘off’ about the gloves – like they were dirty. She left the practice and never returned there.
We are of the firm belief that we are acting for the significant majority of former patients who are now seeking justice as former Daybrook patients and victims of Mr D’Mello. Our 24/7 helpline has been ringing off the hook, so if you would like to join the many people now claiming for justice, call us on 0800 634 7575 today.
We’ll continue to share our client stories and experiences as we continue to fight for the rights of D’Mello victims.
