Dentist phobia girl starves to death

Published on Monday 9 February 2009 21:22

AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD girl starved to death after developing such a fear of dentists she refused to eat, an inquest heard yesterday.

Sophie Waller underwent an operation to remove her milk teeth after she stopped eating or speaking because of pain in one of them.

Doctors decided to remove all eight of the milk teeth so she would not have to undergo repeat operations. However, the inquest was told that after she was discharged she continued to refuse to eat solid food.

Her parents, Janet and Richard, from St Dennis, Cornwall, said they told doctors Sophie was only consuming small amounts of yoghurt, fruit and "build up" drinks prescribed by a GP and were told she would be "OK".

A week later Sophie was so emaciated they could see her spine through her back and her hair was falling out.

The couple told the hearing that they rang the hospital but were told by a nurse not to bring her in as she was now under the care of a community child psychologist, Dr Kerry Davison.

Mrs Waller said she understood Dr Davison was in charge of her daughter's physical care.

The 34-year-old said: "No-one saw her after she was discharged from hospital. I told Kerry Davison she was sucking on a watermelon. She told me that was enough for her to survive on."

A paediatric pathologist, Dr Marie-Ann Brundler, said Sophie died on 2 December, 2005, from acute renal failure caused by starvation and dehydration.

Dr Brundler said she would have expected a health professional to have noticed Sophie's emaciated state had they seen her before she died.

She was admitted to the Royal Cornwall Hospital on 7 November, 2005 and her teeth were removed two days later.

Mrs Waller said Sophie was "devastated" when she discovered her teeth had gone and had a long-standing phobia of dentists.

Sophie was kept in the hospital on a food drip until being discharged on 17 November.

The inquest heard she lost about 11kg in the four weeks before she died, consuming small quantities of yoghurt, mashed fruit and fruit juice.

On 28 November, Mrs Waller said, the hospital refused to take Sophie back, and after speaking to Dr Davison she was advised to contact her GP, who prescribed "build-up drinks" over the phone but did not see and examine Sophie.

A meeting was arranged with Dr Davison for 6 December. Mrs Waller said no-one saw her daughter after she was discharged from hospital.

Dr John Ellis, consultant paediatrician, said he was "shocked and saddened" by the death and two inquiries were carried out.

He said: "The impact of Sophie's death has been a wide-ranging impact across all of the disciplines that were involved.

"There have been changes."

The hearing heard that Sophie weighed 33kg when she was admitted to hospital and was allowed to go home on 17 November after she had gained weight.

She was formally discharged on 21 November, when she was assessed, after spending four days at home.

The inquest continues.