A Dublin woman who has spent “two years in chronic pain” after a botched dental surgery in Turkey has said she now faces having all her teeth removed.

Denise has been back and forth to Turkey on four occasions after suffering infection complications following her original procedure there in 2022.

Her plan was to get some implants and crowns as a "treat" for herself and she chose Turkey to get the work done as it was €14,000 cheaper than it would have been in Ireland.

On Lunchtime Live today, Denise said she thought the problem may be resolved on her latest trip to Turkey earlier in the year.

“There was one tooth they said was causing the issue and the plan was to go back and get it removed," she said.

“When I went over the plan changed, when they did the X-ray, they noticed there was a big cyst growing on the tooth in question.

“They pulled the tooth and the cyst came out, it was very big – the dentist said, ‘You must have been in terrible pain all along.’”

Pain returns

Denise was told the problem had been solved and that she could come back in June to fill the hole with an implant but when she went back to Ireland things got worse.

“The pain came back worse than ever,” she said.

“I said ‘Look, this is becoming a joke now, I’m in an awful state now’.

“I was after losing about two stone altogether and no matter how much sleep I got, I was tired all the time.

“Before all of this, I was a very active person, training three times per week.”

Denise was told by the dentists in Turkey that they “don’t know what to do with me anymore” and she is looking for an Irish dentist to help her.

'Horrifying'

She said she has now gotten a date in May with a local dentist to have all of her teeth removed, such is the extent of the damages done in Turkey.

“As horrifying as it is, I’d rather have dentures,” said Denise.

“I don’t know who’s going to pay for it, it’s probably not them [the Turkish dentists], it will probably be myself at this stage.

“It’s €1,000 alone for the dentist to have the teeth taken out but not only that, they will have to cut open the gums to get the two implants out.

“They also have to shave down all the crowns and remove my original teeth under the crowns.”

Denise said she has spent “two years in chronic pain” after the botched surgery and that she "forgets what it's like not to be in pain now".

You can listen back here:

Main image: A woman undergoing dental surgery. Image: Yuri Arcurs / Alamy Stock Photo