Dental implants left me looking like Eastenders’ Dot Cotton,
A mother-of-two says she has been left looking like Eastenders’ Dot Cotton after spending £24,000 on a new set of teeth that she claims are too big for her jaw.
Moira Devlin, 52, from Alloa in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, said she loved her old smile and had always been known among friends and family for her perfect teeth.
She booked a consultation with a dental surgeon after spotting an advert in Leeds in June 2023, and was persuaded to have a full set of implants rather than the minor work she had originally intended.
She underwent four rounds of surgery over six months, paying for the work with a payday loan she is still repaying at £666 a month.
But instead of improving her smile, the implants have ruined her face.
‘This is utter bedlam – my face is contorted and my teeth are too big for my jaw,’ she said.
‘I look like Dot Cotton – or even the Beano character Desperate Dan – with how my teeth have been clamped in. It’s embarrassing. I feel like I’ve aged 20 years in one day.’
Ms Devlin said her new teeth have caused temporomandibular disorder, a painful condition affecting the movement of the jaw.
She struggles to chew food, suffers constant pins and needles in her jaw and produces excess saliva.
‘My doctor has told me my tooth pain is just going to get worse and worse the longer it goes on,’ she added. ‘But I can’t afford to get it fixed, I’ve already spent £24,000.’
Her GP has referred her to a specialist to try to manage her symptoms with physiotherapy, but she has been told corrective surgery would cost at least £10,000 – far beyond what she can afford.
‘I have been looking for a surgeon to take me on for two years, but I can’t pay for it,’ she said.
‘As soon as I sat up in the chair after the implants were put in, I said “what have you done?” My bottom jaw feels stretched, my nose compressed and my neck can’t be in a neutral position. Saliva pours out all the time – I’m completely disfigured.’
Dental implants have grown hugely popular in Britain, with more than 130,000 fitted every year.
In total around three million people in the UK are thought to have them, a figure rising by hundreds of thousands annually.
The procedure involves inserting a screw, usually made of titanium, directly into the jawbone to replace missing tooth roots.
Once the implant bonds with the bone – a process called osseointegration that can take several months – an abutment and crown are fixed on top.
Implants are widely seen as a durable, long-lasting alternative to dentures or bridges, with success rates of between 90 and 95 per cent when performed by trained professionals.
Many last 10 to 15 years or more and they help preserve the jawbone, which can shrink when teeth are missing.
But like all surgery, they carry risks. Infections can develop, nerves may be damaged during the operation and in some cases the implant may fail to fuse with the bone.
In the months and years afterwards, gum inflammation around the implant – known as peri-implantitis – can lead to bone loss and loosening.
Smoking, poorly controlled diabetes and gum disease can all raise the risk of complications, as can teeth grinding.
Ms Devlin believes her case shows the danger of being rushed into expensive treatment without being fully warned about what might go wrong.
She said: ‘I kept telling them I didn’t have the money for it, but they talked me round by saying I’d save money by not having any more crowns or bridges.
‘I am still paying off the loan now and I don’t see how I will ever afford to put this right.’
