A DENTIST who left a schoolgirl in agony when he filled her teeth without drilling out the decay has been banned for three months.

The General Dental Council heard how Abayomi Ojetunde of Ringmore Rise, Forest Hill, did not take X-rays or check the patient's history before carrying out the dental work.

When he treated the 16-year-old's teeth at the Arkh-View Dental Centre, Station Rise, West Norwood, Ojetunde sealed in the decay which was still present in eight teeth.

Disciplinary tribunal chairman Colin Smith said: "There were two opportunities for you to take or request the relevant radiographs, and your failure to do so was a clear breach of your duty of care to the patient.

"You were unable to give any reasons why you did not take or obtain radiographs.

"These failures led to the patient suffering unnecessary discomfort, which had to be rectified by another practitioner."

The patient told the hearing she had a phobia about dentists but was reassured by Ojetunde, who gave her a general anaesthetic.

She said: "After the treatment I experienced really bad pain in my lower jaw.

"I was feeling stressed because I had my GCSE exams coming up."

She was informed about Ojetunde's blunders after she went to see another dentist.

She added: "I was shocked. I wasn't aware of how many mistakes Dr Ojetunde had made. I had to have root canal treatment by an emergency dentist."

Ojetunde admitted not taking radiographs of the girl's teeth but denied failing to remove decay.

But the panel ruled on March 29 Ojetunde failed to diagnose decay in the eight teeth and the full extent of decay in two others.

Ojetunde was found guilty of serious professional misconduct.