Sir, in February 2011 I started a simple course of upper arch orthodontic treatment for a patient. I was asked if I would give a discount for cash or if a discount could be applied, as the patient could obtain cheaper treatment in China (I declined both requests). All went well. A year later treatment was completed; the patient was happy with the result and had paid in full, without discount, prior to completion. On reviewing the upper retainer I was asked if I could provide a lower removable retainer. I agreed to do so for £60. The patient felt this should be included in the cost of orthodontic treatment, I explained why this was not the case (we had not agreed a treatment plan involving a lower retainer, only an upper one), the patient reminded me that it could be obtained at less cost in China. I agreed that was likely. The patient left and was discharged from my care.

Six months later I received a letter from the GDC stating that the patient had made a complaint. I had been accused of racist behaviours throughout the course of treatment. The GDC listed a charge of professional misconduct and a fitness to practise case was to be heard. I was asked to provide a list of my employers/places of work. The GDC immediately contacted my employers to inform them of the complaint and the reason for it; they also instructed them that a fitness to practise hearing was to be held. The GDC requested the patient record and trawled through it to see if they could find anything else to add to the charge list, whether related to the initial complaint or not.

Time moved on very slowly. I experienced sleepless nights and increasing levels of stress associated with the threat of losing a living. I had to take several days from clinic to attend meetings with Dental Protection and their legal team. I was asked to approach friends and acquaintances for character references. My legal team had to write to them and set out the list of charges before asking for the reference, all very embarrassing.

Two years following the initial complaint to the GDC I was instructed that the hearing was to be held in the last week of July 2014, I was told to cancel the week's clinics and book a hotel in London. Two months before the hearing I received notification that the complainant had refused to provide a witness statement and was refusing to attend the hearing. The GDC wrote advising that the 'likelihood of securing the case as proven was low' and that with advice the hearing was cancelled.

As of yet they have not written to my employers informing them of the outcome and the reasons for it. When contacted, the GDC advised that informing employers of such an outcome is not something they would do. I asked Dental Protection what the approximate cost of this process would be; I was amazed to hear it would be £15,000-20,000.

I can conclude the following. The GDC is not fulfilling its role in a fair nor efficient way. Asking registrants for more money to fund such a system is unbelievably arrogant. Any patient can cause havoc without facing redress. Legal advice is expensive. The whole process is wrong.

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