My Turkey teeth almost killed me
Having dental work on 28 teeth in Turkey turned into a nightmare for Amanda Turner
Amanda Turner, 36, is an aesthetics practitioner and lives in Belfast with her sons Connor, 10 and Cole, two. In 2022, Amanda travelled to Turkey for dental work, a decision that left her with a life-threatening infection and thousands of pounds out of pocket.
As the plane to Istanbul took off, I felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness. I was travelling to Turkey for dental surgery, fully expecting to return with a perfect and pain-free smile, after years of issues with my teeth. How I wish I could go back in time to that day in April 2022.
I’d never board that flight, let alone set foot in the Turkish clinic where botched treatment almost cost me my life, as well as tens of thousands of pounds.
During both my pregnancies, with all the hormonal changes, I experienced a lot of dental problems which caused me great pain. After my youngest son was born in February 2022, I needed root canal work, and a number of crowns to cover damaged and weakened teeth.
Post-pandemic however, the waiting list was enormous. I was told it could be years before I reached the top of it. A single working mum-of-two, I just wanted to get my teeth fixed so I could get on with my life and raising my children.
A couple of friends had travelled to Turkey for dental work and had positive experiences, so I began to research it myself. On both Facebook and Instagram, an advert for a particular clinic in Istanbul kept popping up and after researching it, and reading about its experienced staff and excellent reviews, I decided to book.
For £3,050 they told me I could have root canal surgery and 28 individual crowns. I’d fly home, they assured me, with a 'Hollywood smile'. The price also included my airport transfers, a week in a hotel and transport to and from the clinic for my appointments. I would have to pay an additional £700 for my flights.
Heading to Turkey
I used my savings, packing the cash in my suitcase because the clinic had told me they needed to be paid in full at my first appointment.
Some friends and family were worried about me, especially because I’d be going alone, but I reassured them I’d be back in a week’s time, with a sparkling new smile and a tan from my week in the sun.
After checking into my hotel in the early hours of the morning, having had a long journey from Belfast via Amsterdam, I was shattered but couldn’t wait to get the treatment underway.
I was in agony, the drugs weren’t strong enough, and I was crying and begging for the dentist to stop, but he carried on.
At the clinic the next day, I was unsettled by the fact the dentist wasn’t the one I’d seen in the adverts, who I’d been told had 30 years’ experience.
Lost in translation
We had to communicate via a translator and he explained I didn’t need the root canal work because the new crowns would cover those areas.
Then, after a few randomly placed injections of pain relief, he began to file down my teeth to stumps, the first stage of having crowns fitted. I was in agony, the drugs weren’t strong enough, and I was crying and begging for him to stop, but he carried on.
I felt so woozy and spent a lot of the next 48 hours either asleep or in pain from my stumps – they were all that was left of my teeth.
Afterwards, a nurse took me into a private room and gave me an injection in my bum. I had no idea what the drugs were but was so traumatised from the hours in the chair, I just wanted to get back to the hotel.
By the time I did, in a taxi arranged by the clinic, I felt so woozy and spent a lot of the next 48 hours either asleep or in pain from my stumps – they were all that was left of my teeth.
I told myself that soon the crowns would be fitted, and it would all be over and worth the pain.
Agonising pain
Later that week I returned to have my crowns fitted, but the appointment quickly turned into another nightmare.
Instead of the individual crowns I’d been promised, and had paid for, the dentist began to fit bridges – several false teeth joined together.
The appointment quickly turned into a nightmare. Instead of the individual crowns I’d been promised, and had paid for, the dentist began to fit bridges – several false teeth joined together.
He didn’t clean them, or my mouth, before fitting them over the stumps and I could immediately feel they were too big, with gaps between them and my gums. Again, the pain was indescribable.
With the language barrier, it was so difficult, but through the translator I kept insisting this wasn’t what I'd paid for. He dismissed me, saying I was getting the Hollywood smile I’d asked for. I felt scared and powerless, I couldn’t believe this was happening.
A big con
I was taken back to the hotel where I contacted the clinic manager to complain about my treatment, but was ghosted. Then, to my shock, the hotel told me I needed to leave – the clinic had failed to pay any of the bill for my week’s stay despite me paying them in full on the first day.
To my shock, the hotel told me I needed to leave – the clinic had failed to pay any of the bill for my week’s stay despite me paying them in full on the first day.
I was furious and upset but had no choice but to take a taxi to the airport, where I spent 14 hours before getting on a flight I’d had to pay extra for.
Arriving home, at first glance my teeth looked great, but the left side of my face was numb, I could feel the bridges didn’t fit properly, and I was in agony. I was exhausted after the week I’d just had, and so little sleep due to the pain.
Life-threatening infection
I saw an emergency dentist who was horrified by the botched treatment and told me it could cost around £18,000 to fix it all. I was devastated and filled with regret.
The next few months were horrendous. I was prescribed painkillers and antibiotics because I kept getting infections due to the fact I couldn’t clean properly between the bridges and my gums.
I was rushed to hospital with a life-threatening bacterial infection which was spreading from my mouth into my airways. I had to spend a week in hospital having the infection drained.
Then, in July 2022, I was rushed to hospital with a life-threatening bacterial infection which was spreading from my mouth into my airways. I had to spend a week in hospital having the infection drained and was terrified my sons were going to lose me.
After posting on TikTok about my experience, I was contacted by Dr Rhona Eskander from the Chelsea Dental Clinic in London. She offered to help me for a highly discounted cost, and I felt so grateful.
Fixing the problem
Between August 2022 and February 2023, I travelled to London every few weeks for treatment at her clinic, gradually reversing the botched work that had been done in Turkey. I had root canal surgery, an extraction and first temporary crowns, then permanent ones.
I spent around £20,000 getting my teeth fixed, working two jobs to pay for it.
Despite the generous discount, because of the cost of flights and accommodation for each trip, I spent around £20,000 getting my teeth fixed, working two jobs to pay for it.
The guilt I felt being away from my little boys was terrible, and I was so angry that I’d trusted the Turkish clinic, and been so badly treated by them.
Warning others
Today, I have a beautiful, pain-free smile but what a huge cost I have paid for it – both financially and emotionally. Even now I struggle to think about that week in Turkey, and how scared and helpless I felt, I’m not sure that trauma will ever leave me.
I’ve been trolled for sharing my experience on social media, with people telling me I was vain and should have known better. Someone even called social services to claim I wasn’t a fit mother.
However, I have also been contacted by women and men who’ve told me that hearing what I went through made them think twice about travelling abroad for dental work, and that gives me great satisfaction.
Even now I struggle to think about that week in Turkey, and how scared and helpless I felt, I’m not sure that trauma will ever leave me.
At the time I went to Turkey, I worked in retail but since then I’ve become an aesthetics practitioner. I take my work very seriously, I know people put their trust in me, and would never want anyone to feel the way I did after my botched surgery.
I will always regret my decision to get 'Turkey teeth' and urge people, if you’re considering getting on a plane this summer to do the same, learn from my experience and don’t do it. These cowboy clinics ruin lives.
You can follow Amanda on Instagram @headturner_aesthetics
Read more
Turkey teeth: What is the worrying dental trend as Katie Price warns against 'fake teeth' (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)
Dentist's warning over 'Turkey Teeth' after patients veneers become infected (Daily Record, 3-min read)
‘I’m a dentist - here’s why you shouldn’t go to Turkey to get your teeth done’ (Belfast Live, 3-min read)
