Nagasaki University Hospital has announced that a dentist at the hospital extracted the wrong wisdom tooth of a patient and failed to report the error to their superior.
The hospital in Nagasaki said Tuesday the patient's health was unharmed, but its oral surgery department has stopped offering medical examinations in principle.
Similar incidents were confirmed to have occurred at the hospital in December 2020 and April 2021.
According to the hospital, a woman in her 30s who lives in Nagasaki Prefecture had been scheduled to get her wisdom teeth on the upper left side and lower left side of her mouth removed on Nov. 8. But the dentist pulled out her teeth on the lower right side and lower left side.
Immediately after the surgery, the woman pointed out that a wrong tooth had been taken out. She also called up the dentist on Nov. 13 and asked for an explanation.
The dentist apologized to her on Nov. 16 and removed the tooth on the upper left side.
The hospital learned of the incident after receiving a letter from the woman.
In explaining the causes of the error, the hospital said the dentist in charge of the operation had not been assigned until the day of the surgery, and the dentist failed to confirm with the patient which teeth were to be extracted.
"The oral surgery department has problems in its nature," Takashi Sawase, vice director of the hospital, said at a news conference. "We will work to prevent recurrences by improving awareness and systems."