Dentists say the implants pierced Leanne’s face internally and the damage may cost £45,000 to fix
A mum said her face collapsed and she was left in the ‘worst pain of her life’ after botched dental implants in Turkey. Leanne Abeyance jetted to Turkey to replace her 13-year-old veneers with implants.
The 40-year-old claims that the dentist recommended a sinus lift, bone grafts. eight implants on top and seven on the bottom. DJ Leanne had her teeth pulled out, screws, implants fitted before flying home to the UK.
Two days later, she had her temporary teeth inserted. She was due to fly back to Turkey five months later to have her permanent teeth fitted. But weeks after having the screws fitted, Leanne claimed she started experiencing intense headaches and sinusitis.
Leanne says she started to panic when her face started to change shape and she rushed to A&E where she was given antibiotics and told there was nothing more they could do. A scan at a private dentist revealed that two implants had pierced her nose.
“I’m in the worst pain of my life and I’m in and out of A&E,” said Leanne, of Telford, Shropshire. “I can’t even touch my face. It feels like broken glass being smashed in my face and smeared around. I’ve been in a flood of tears.
“My face has collapsed. I’ll never have a nice smile. At the minute, I don’t have any teeth in, just screws sticking out. The pain is worse than childbirth.”
Leanne had chosen to go abroad because the same procedure in the UK would have set her back £40,000. The treatment in Turkey was set to cost £8,000 but Leanne only paid £3,000 and was due to pay the rest when her new teeth had been fitted.
She said: “When the first lot of injections went in and they started to remove my teeth, I could feel everything. I had about 25 injections in six hours. The sinus lift felt like they were hammering something up my nose.
“It was like a horror movie that I was fully awake for. I got picked up and taken back to a nice hotel where fellow customers were there having the same done. I was on the phone to my friends and family crying my eyes out because I was in so much pain and there on my own.
“You can’t eat because your mouth is so swollen and there are screws sticking out so I was starving.“ Leanne left the surgery last May happy with her temporary smile but was in agony as soon as she got to the airport.
She said: “I had my denture cemented in and I couldn’t have been happier, in pain but still smiling. In the airport, my face started to hurt so much I was literally buying cups of ice and putting them on my face.
“My face was black and blue like I’d been in a huge fight. In the UK, I thought it was all worth it because it was the start of a perfect smile and feeling pretty. Four months later, I’m starting to get bad headaches, toothache where there are no teeth, and sinus problems which I’d never had before.
“I was constantly in and out of the doctors and given antibiotics but nothing was clearing it. I got hospitalised overnight on an IV feed. A few weeks back, I was in the worst pain of my life going back and forth to A&E where they couldn’t do anything.
“I went to a private dentist called Droitwich Dental Studio in March and had a full 4D scan of my head by Dr Aurie and AJ. They said one implant pierced through my sinuses and the other is in my nose.”
The mum-of-two is fundraising to have private treatment. Her dentist has advised that she may need to have all of the implants removed and refitted which could cost £45,000.
Leanne added: “The pain I’m in is excruciating. It’s not as easy as walk in, walk out to the perfect smile like celebrities say.
“There’s no such thing as the perfect white smile. I’m not asking for sympathy or anything for free. Now it’s a waiting game. My dentist in Droitwich has been great and I’ll be using them again in the future.
“I’m ready to have them all cut out and have horrible dentures but hopefully it will stop the pain I’m in. I can’t work, my face swells up, I get bad headaches, nose bleeds, mood swings and my mental health through the roof. I’ve lost two stone in weight and I feel like I’m failing as a mother to my two beautiful daughters.
“I don’t want to be seen in public. My mental health is severely suffering, I can’t DJ, I can’t be my happy, lively self and can’t even do a caravan holiday with the kids. It’s been the worst year of my life. I just want it to be over.”