A DENTAL patient says he was removed from a surgery’s books for missing for a single appointment.

Paul Richter, 55, of St Osyth, said he has been going to the MyDentist dental practice, in Old Road, Clacton, every six months for the past 15 years.

In November last year, he had a temporary filling put in a troublesome tooth before it fell out just a few days after his treatment.

The Greater Anglia worker then contacted the dental surgery who booked him in to see a dentist to have the problematic filling replaced.

On the day of his appointment Mr Richter had been caring for his terminally-ill partner Clare Bailey, 51, who has stage four brain cancer, so ended up arriving an hour late.

The receptionist subsequently rescheduled the appointment, but a few days later Mr Richter says the dental centre removed him from its books citing unreliability.

He said: “I received a text saying from the surgery saying they could no longer assist me because I was unreliable and they would no longer do my tooth.

“My partner is at the end of her life and we are living through a pandemic, so I just felt like they would give me a break and show some understanding.

“I know they have been dealing with a lot, but before I finally had the filling done, they had cancelled on me at least six times, so it is just hypocritical.

“I explained I need my tooth sorted as soon as possible because if it got infected and I got ill, who would take care of my terminally-ill partner?”

Since then, Mr Richter said he has exchanged numerous conversations, letters and phone calls with the dental centre, but claims there has been a lack of communication.

As a result, he was forced to travel to the Smile Clinic, in Colchester, in order to finally have his tooth fixed.

The father-of-four added: “I am really annoyed by this because they left a broken tooth in my gum. I want to be treated with some respect and not told to jog on.”

A spokeswoman for the practice put the situation down to a misunderstanding and said Mr Richter was welcome to rejoin the practice.

She said: “We have spoken to Mr Richter to apologise and to reassure him that he has not been removed from our practice.”

Mr Richter, however, says he will not be returning.