Paul, I think you are not understanding what the OP is trying to do. My interpretation of what they are saying could be addressed by this macro.
This refreshes the TOC and then steps backwards through the entries and removes any TOC1s that are followed immediately by another TOC1 (doesn't have a child)
Code:
Sub TOC_Fiddler()
Dim aPar As Paragraph, aTOC As TableOfContents, i As Integer, aRng As Range
Set aTOC = ActiveDocument.TablesOfContents(1)
aTOC.Update
Set aRng = aTOC.Range
For i = aRng.Paragraphs.Count - 1 To 1 Step -1
If aRng.Paragraphs(i).Style = "TOC 1" And aRng.Paragraphs(i).Next.Style = "TOC 1" Then aRng.Paragraphs(i).Range.Delete
Next i
End Sub