Jack James, 22, from Manchester, decided to get fake teeth to “look better on camera” – he traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, where he paid £3,000 for a set of veneers which later caused serious complications including infection and bleeding
A model has issued a stark warning to Britons considering traveling abroad for veneer treatment after his dental procedure went disastrously wrong.
Jack James opted to get false teeth to “look better on camera” last September. He flew to Istanbul, Turkey, where he paid £3,000 for a set of veneers.
At first, the then 22-year-old was happy with the result, but several months later, he experienced “terrible breathing” and bleeding, prompting him to arrange an emergency visit to the dentist.
Jack, from Manchester, said: “They looked fine until they started bleeding and hurting. They started smelling and leaking. My breath stank.”
After the examination, Jack discovered that his teeth were in a terrible state and the repairs would set him back £20,000.
“I went to an emergency dentist and got x-rays. The dentist said my teeth were bad and I had an infection,” she said.
Unable to meet the high cost domestically, a desperate Jack turned to the Turkish clinic to see if they could fix the problem.
“They were adamant it wasn’t their fault. They said I would have to pay again to get it fixed,” she said.
Jack received an offer of £4,500 for repairs and chose to return to Turkey in June 2023 to have the veneers removed and replaced.
“They took out all my teeth and the abscess and put in temporary teeth. It took a few weeks for the infection to clear,” he added.
He claims he was horrified to discover his natural teeth had been filed down to look “like a shark”. Jack was then fitted with a replacement set and flew back to Britain at the end of June – however, his ordeal was far from over.
He recalled brushing his teeth when a crown “just fell off,” leaving him with an obvious gap.
“It was like something out of a horror movie,” revealed the aspiring model.
Jack is now warning others to do their due diligence before venturing abroad for dental procedures.
“I feel so upset with myself. I feel like getting all my teeth out. I wish I had composite bonding, but I can’t change the past,” she admitted.
Jack is not alone in such difficulties, with one in four Britons struggling to secure a dental appointment at home – prompting desperate patients to pay for treatment abroad.
“The increase we have seen in the number of patients coming to Turkey from the UK is truly incredible and shows no signs of slowing down,” Dentakay director Dr Gülay Akay told the Mirror in a separate investigation.
“There is no doubt that the crisis in NHS care is driving Britons to seek treatment in other countries.
“We’ve seen some real horror stories, including a patient who had lost almost all his teeth in a car accident but was unable to get treatment on the NHS.”
