A Minnesota woman who said that she received four root canals, eight dental crowns and 20 fillings in a single visit to a dentist’s office has sued him for negligence, claiming that he caused her disfigurement.
The patient, Kathleen Wilson, of Hennepin County, Minn., filed the lawsuit on Dec. 21 in District Court against Dr. Kevin Molldrem of Molldrem Family Dentistry in Eden Prairie, Minn., over the July 2020 visit that she said caused her significant injuries, which was reported last week by The Star Tribune.
Ms. Wilson said in the legal complaint that she lost income because of the dental work and that she had endured “pain and suffering, embarrassment, emotional distress and disfigurement” as a result. It is not clear from the lawsuit what Ms. Wilson’s occupation is.
A lawyer for Ms. Wilson did not respond to an inquiry for further comment. Dr. Molldrem, who is listed as representing himself in the case, according to the complaint, did not respond to a request for comment.
On his website, Dr. Molldrem said he opened his practice in Eden Prairie, Minn., “to provide the type of dental care for others as I would want for my own family.”
According to the suit, Ms. Wilson received dental care from Dr. Molldrem from July 7 to July 21, 2020.
During one of those visits, Dr. Molldrem completed 8 crowns, four root canals and 20 restorations, “performing this work improperly,” according to the complaint.
Ms. Wilson also claimed that the dentist had provided “quantities of anesthesia well in excess of recommended dosage” and that he had falsified medical records concerning the amount of anesthetic administered to her.
“This negligent work proximately caused significant injuries” to Ms. Wilson, the suit stated, noting that the dentist had failed “to create a care plan that would effectively address decay and tooth dissolution.”
Ms. Wilson’s legal team hired Dr. Avrum Goldstein, a dentist in Naples, Fla., to review her dental work and provide an expert opinion in a nine-page affidavit filed in November.
His report identified various breaches of duty performed by Dr. Molldrem, such as trying to restore all of her teeth in one visit. Nearly all of Ms. Wilson’s teeth had decay or erosion, his report said.
“Restoring all of her teeth does nothing to address her susceptibility to her disease, the likelihood of it continuing, and the possibility that her teeth will be lost,’’ Dr. Goldstein wrote.
He added that completing that much dental work “in a single visit is impossible to achieve if each of these procedures is done properly.”
After her last visit with Dr. Molldrem in July 2020, Ms. Wilson went several times to another dental care office, Lake Minnetonka Dental in Wayzata, Minn., to be treated because of lost tooth restorations and recurrent decay, Dr. Goldstein wrote in his report.
Ms. Wilson also received treatment at the University of Minnesota Dental School from May to September in 2022 to repair and replace the restorations “in an attempt to stabilize her mouth,” the report said.
Ms. Wilson is seeking more than $50,000 in damages, according to the lawsuit.
The American Dental Association declined to comment on the case.
“The American Dental Association is aware of recent news reports and is unable to comment since the Association does not have all the specific details and facts of the case,” Corinne Racine, a spokeswoman for the organization, said in an emailed statement. “Dentists should use their best professional judgment in all treatment decisions. Patient safety and comfort are of paramount importance.”
Amanda Holpuch contributed reporting.