I have been living in complete and utter fear of losing my teeth over the past 5 months to the point where I am now waking up at night unable to catch my breath and feeling absolutely petrified.

I had a crown that kept on getting infected and each time I made an emergency appointment to see my NHS dentist he prescribed antibiotics. Eventually the crown (on a molar in the top right side of my jaw) fell off and left a small piece of black tooth sticking out from the gum. I went to the dentist and asked if it should be taken out and he said he could either drill into the bone to remove it or I could leave it to come out on its own. I also asked if not having a tooth there would affect the surrounding teeth and he said that teeth were independent and that it would not. Over the next 18 months the tooth next to it became loose and a while later the last bits off tooth from the crowned tooth came out. I had been going to the same dental practice for over 25 years and it was not unusual to see different dentists and the next time I went I asked to have my teeth cleaned as the lower front ones were becoming stained. I was told to make a separate appointment and when I went back another dentist was there. She was running very late and when I went in she had trouble putting the equipment together and had to ask the nurse. When she turned the equipment on my teeth were blasted with a jet of sand (evidently water was supposed to be coming out as well). She said that I would need to make another appointment and she would put a note on my file to say that it should be done for free. To add insult to injury I came out to find a parking ticket on my car. The next time I went I saw another dentist, told her what had happened and she said that no note had been put on the file and that to have my teeth cleaned would cost £300. She also said that I had gum disease and that I would need to see their specialist who would charge me £95 for a consultation and £85 every two week for treatment until it was gone. I felt very sceptical and decided to raise the issue with her on my next visit. By the next visit, however, I had noticed that my incisor teeth had dropped down and one had started to migrate behind my front tooth. The dentist again said that I would need to pay £300 to have them cleaned and said that she thought I had serious gum disease problems. I decided to get an appointment with a private dentist for a second opinion and he confirmed that there were deep pockets around the teeth in the top right side of my jaw, less so in the top left and that 6 of my teeth were quite mobile. I then went to see a periodontist who told me that I had lost approximately 70% of the bone in the top right side and 30-50% in the top left side.

The outlook is very bleak and I know that I will lose the remaining teeth in the top right within the next few months and probably the rest shortly after. I cannot contemplate dentures and so will have to raise the £8000 needed to go to Romania and have bone augmentation and a fixed denture put in (over 2 visits and 8-12months). I hate the thought of this not only because I had hoped to be mortgage free within the next year or so and start to be able to support my children through uni (I have one in his first year and another hopefully going in 2 years' time), fix the house up etc. I feel so guilty about spending such a large amount of money on myself but I know that I could not cope with dentures and would become extremely depressed if I had to.

I decided to instruct a solicitor to hopefully claim against my former dental practice because I feel that I have to fight for some compensation to try and salvage this situation and the financial costs involved. I feel that had I received proper care and advice, I would not have found myself in this situation at this point in my life. Yes, I was a smoker but the damage is mainly in the top right jaw not spread throughout my mouth and I would be really grateful if anyone can point me in the direction of any research or case histories which could support argument.

I would advise anyone with any dental problems to make sure you are getting the treatment you are entitled to if you are with an NHS dentist (you can find this out by googling NHS dental treatment), if you can to go privately and either way do your own research, get problems sorted out, visit the hygienist and get dental insurance (your teeth need to be dental fit before you you are eligible).