Rachel Lang
Belfast mum Amanda Turner was looking forward to a glittering new smile. But, she was instead left with skyrocketing medical bills, a swollen, numb face, and ruined teeth.
Although her face had puffed up like someone suffering from the mumps, Turner's ailments were actually caused by a disastrous trip to a cheap Turkish dentist.
She travelled to Istanbul to get dental work done on the cheap, paying only £3,000 ($AUD5,200) for the work.
But, as they say, you get what you pay for, because the mum-of-two has now forked out more than £14,000 ($AUD23,000) to fix the damage.
Although she had requested dental crowns, dentists in Turkey cut corners. They filed her teeth down to nubs while incorrectly fitting several strips of false teeth instead. They even fused some of her teeth together.
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She told The Sun: "I could feel the teeth weren't even in properly, they had this cement in my teeth, and my own teeth underneath were in excruciating pain."
She added: "It’s a pain I have never imagined in my life."
Turner revealed she was on a drip for five days after returning from Turkey and her teeth felt like they were 'being electrocuted'.
"You are sold the dream and you are delivered a nightmare," she said, as per ITV.
She also revealed she was left stranded after complaining about the botched dental work.
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"You don't get what you pay for, when you complain you are left on streets alone, they cancel your hotel and transport," she added.
Chelsea Dental's Dr Rhona Eskander has been helping the 34-year-old get her smile back - but it has been a long, painful, and expensive journey.
"None of her teeth are going to be her actual teeth anymore because everything she's had done is irreversible," Dr Eskander told LADbible.
After speaking with Chelsea Dental, Turner discovered she had broken teeth, multiple infections, and irreversible damage to her mouth.
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Thanks to a team of dentists donating their time to help the mum-of-two, she hasn't had to fork out the full cost of the dental work to fix her smile, which would have set her back up to £70,000 ($AUD122,000) in normal circumstances.
But, according to dentist Peter Hughes, she is far from being the only person that this has happened to.
"The more complex treatments can need more preparatory work and aftercare," he told iTV.
He added: "Problems are then more likely with dental tourism."
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Turner revealed that she has learned her lesson the very, very hard way.
"I was stupid - I see that now... If only I knew," she said, as per iTV.
She is now urging anyone considering heading to Turkey for surgery on the cheap to not make the same mistake she did.