Patients hoping to claim compensation for badly-executed dental work are losing out because of a legal loophole.

Former Hove dentist James Hamilton had been ordered to pay Neil Holbeche £6,000 damages for a catalogue of mistakes.

The case was expected to pave the way for hundreds of other patients of the same dentist to come forward with similar claims.

But the Dental Defence Union (DDU), which acts for dentists facing such claims and would normally pay out compensation, is refusing in Mr Holbeche's case because Mr Hamilton was not a full member.

Legally, the DDU is a discretionary organisation so it can choose whether it will support a dentist and be liable for damage claims.

The decision means Mr Holbeche and other patients will not be paid a penny.

Solicitor Sarah Mynard, from Farrington Webb in Brighton, acted for Mr Holbeche in court and represents another 16 patients.

She was so frustrated at the decision she decided to press for changes in the law so patients could be protected if things went wrong.

She said: "A lot of people were surprised when they realised what had happened. Mr Hamilton did not have any money so the patients could not claim from him and the DDU was not paying out.

"It basically means people affected by this dentist will not get any compensation because he is not covered by any insurance.

"A lot of my clients have been very upset by this but legally there is nothing we can do. We need to make sure it becomes compulsory for all private dentists to have indemnity insurance to cover cases like this.

"It is quite clear the law needs to be changed to protect patients from this ever happening again and this is why I approached Mr Turner, calling for something to be done."

Brighton Kemp Town MP Des Turner is presenting a Ten Minute Rule Bill in the House of Commons today to try to close the loophole.

He said: "Discretionary insurance for private doctors and dentists is clearly not acceptable and I'm pleased to see the Government has already acknowledged this in legislation passed in the Health Act of 1999.

"My Bill aims to ensure this enabling legislation is put into action to protect patients."

Mr Holbeche, from Lewes, who spent more than £5,000 repairing damage done to his teeth, welcomed news of the Bill.

He said: "I was under the impression compensation would be paid out in cases where negligence was proved but this is not the case as the Dental Defence Union payouts are discretionary.

"This system is unfair and unjust. It makes me frustrated and angry. It is quite clear it needs to be changed."

Mr Holbeche lost three teeth and needed expensive and painful root canal work to repair the damage. He would still need to pay out thousands more to make his teeth properly functionable again.

Another former patient, Jean Gilpin from Hove, had no idea of any problems and said Mr Hamilton had originally seemed to be a charming man.

She said: "When he left the area and I signed on to another dentist they told me my teeth had been terribly misused.

"I had ten crowns done but they were not done properly. I ended up losing two teeth and having to have root canal work, which was very painful.

"It cost about £5,000 for repair work but it would have been a lot more if I hadn't insured myself through DenPlan.

"I think the whole thing is an absolute disgrace.

"Somebody must be responsible for this but nobody is taking that responsibility. As it is, I'm the one who has lost out, been through a lot of pain and is now having to deal with this."

Mr Hamilton, who had worked at the Family Dental Group in New Church Road, Hove, but is no longer practising in the area, was ordered to pay compensation at a hearing at Brighton County Court in June last year in a case brought against him by Mr Holbeche.

The DDU said it would not comment on individual cases.