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Dental phobic girl died due to ‘lack of clarity’ between medics
19th Mar 2010
Sophie Waller
An eight-year-old girl with a phobia of dentists died of starvation after she was failed by medical and professional experts, a report claims.
Eight-year-old Sophie Waller, from Cornwall, developed pervasive refusal syndrome – a severe oral phobia – after a series of traumatic dental visits.
And now a serious case review suggests she died because of a lack of communication between all health agencies involved in her care.
Sophie had been terrified of dentists since the age of four when one accidentally cut her tongue during treatment.
In July 2002, she was referred for hospital treatment for gross dental decay.
The dental record describes a history of her not letting dentists treat her. As a consequence she had four teeth removed in hospital.
In October 2004, she was examined and advised by a GP as she was not eating or talking after losing a milk tooth.
By March 2005, her milk teeth were loose and she refused to eat, sleep or drink. Over the next few months she was seen by GPs and taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske, Truro, where in November that year she had her milk teeth removed.
The procedure traumatised the child and she refused to open her mouth – she had to be fed by a tube.
Sophie was discharged home but died four weeks later weighing three stone due to suffering kidney failure caused by starvation and dehydration.
A report released by the Local Safeguarding Children Board found there was a ‘lack of clarity' from the agencies following Sophie's discharge from hospital.
The report says: ‘No other treatment appears to have followed.'
It said: ‘A number of agencies were involved with the family but did not appear to effectively communicate… No clear written plan was made on discharge and there was lack of clarity about responsibility for medical review following discharge.
‘The clinical psychologist made telephone contact with the child's parents in the week after discharge but did not see her again.
‘There was a lack of clarity over the “open-door” arrangement which was intended to allow the child's parents to bring her back in the week following discharge and when they phoned for advice on the seventh day, they were referred back to the psychologist for support.'
At Sophie's inquest in February 2009 the court heard how doctors had failed to diagnose her phobia of dentists which eventually led to her starving to death.
Since the case, students at the Peninsula Dental School in Cornwall are being taught some simple techniques to allay the fears of their young patients.
The school's dean, Professor Liz Kay, has written advice for students about how to ease children's fears.
‘You have to remember what it's like to be five and speak in a language the children understand,' she said.
‘Words like “dental chair” could be replaced by more child-friendly words like “rocket man's chair. Instead of saying “open your mouth” you say “let's count your teeth”.'
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