Mum left with a permanent ‘resting bitch face’ by an abusive ex gets teeth fixed in Turkey for £11k

A single mom left with a ‘resting bitch face’ after having her teeth knocked out by an abusive ex-boyfriend and claims she’s finally feeling comfortable dating again after having her smile restored in Turkey.

Zoe Greenfield, from Leeds, had dental crowns fitted after she broke off her two front teeth on a stone staircase as a child.

But the 47-year-old lost her buttocks two and six years ago after being punched in the face by an ex-partner.

Her back teeth were also loose, causing gaps.

Despite having dentures, one child’s mother felt so self-conscious that she covered her mouth or even refused to smile.

Mrs Greenfield said: ‘The main concern, which is why I had them done, was that my two lower teeth were knocked out when I was hit.

“I’ve never experienced any kind of violence from a partner, but one time an ex-partner hit me and knocked out my two bottom teeth and loosened my top teeth.”

She claimed after being attacked that she spent hours in hospital as staff tried to save her teeth before seeing a dentist.

She added, “She [the teeth] eventually fell out and it caused the other teeth to spread apart so there were a lot of gaps. I had to wear a plate all the time, so it’s like a little denture with two teeth.

“That made me really paranoid and it’s not nice to have something like that in there, you have to take it out, clean it and put it back in.”

But after being paid £30,000 to have her teeth fixed in the UK, the primary school teaching assistant opted to fly to Turkey to undergo the procedure for a third of the price.

She said, “When you’re single and you’re older and you’re thinking about being in a relationship, it really hit me, I just wanted some decent teeth.

“When I went out to drink or socialize, people would always say to me, ‘oh, have a laugh.’ They thought I had a resting bitch face and I was just really miserable.

“I probably had a bit of a restless bitch face. I covered my mouth with my hand and things like that.

“But I never wanted to smile because I hated my teeth.”

She added, “For the past six or seven years I have always been paranoid [about my teeth].

‘I would never smile in pictures, I thought if I had the money I would have them taken, but I didn’t have the money.

‘I got some quotes in England and for the top and bottom you’d be looking at £28-30,000. I couldn’t manage it here because it was just too expensive, so I decided to go to Turkey.’

For decades, Britons have been warned against seeking cheaper surgeries in places like Turkey, Eastern Europe or South East Asia.

Turkey is not inherently more dangerous than other surgical tourism hotspots.

But cheap flights between the UK and the UK – as well as the rise of the trend to combine cosmetic surgery with a holiday – have made it one of the main destinations for Britons looking to go under the knife.

Yet dozens have required corrective surgery on their return to the UK, costing taxpayers millions and eating up precious NHS resources.

The procedure in Turkey required Ms Greenfield to have her upper and lower teeth completely removed and replaced with implants.

Last February she traveled to Turkey where she spent a week for the first part of her treatment and had ten implants placed.

After returning home, she traveled back to the country six months later in November to have them checked before having crowns fitted.

Mrs Greenfield said, ‘It’s absolutely fantastic. I love the result, can’t complain.

“It’s such a confidence boost. I just think it’s done now and I don’t have to worry about my teeth. For starters, I will probably never get a toothache again.

“It just makes me feel so much better. I don’t think women are ever 100 percent happy with themselves, but it was the main thing I thought about all the time and now I’ve done it – it’s just brilliant.

She added: ‘When someone talks to me, I don’t permanently think they’re looking at the state of my teeth because I have beautiful teeth.

“I’ve been single for six years now, I haven’t had a date yet. I would love to date again, but I have a seven-year-old daughter and it’s hard for me to get out and about and things like that.

“It just made me feel more confident about dating. I would definitely go on dates now, when I probably wouldn’t before.”

Since posting about her experience online, she has also spoken to others in England by phone who are also curious about dental treatment in Turkey.

She added: “I think everyone has a right to be concerned [about getting their teeth done] because it is not a 100 percent success rate.

‘It may not work for everyone, as it depends on the health of your gums and all sorts of different reasons.

‘But it’s so expensive in England to get your teeth done that I think sometimes the option of going to Turkey is the only option people have.

“If your teeth are maybe a little bit bent or not white enough, or really weird little things, I would never tell anyone to get their teeth done because once you file them, that’s it, you can’t more. get them back.

“But then there are people who might have been on drugs or people like me who’ve had their teeth knocked out, with something like that, I just think as long as you look at where you’re going, I’d tell people to go, I really would.” ‘

It’s because millions of people in the UK already struggle to see a dentist.

In recent months, desperate Britons have had to resort to using shoelaces and pliers to pull out their rotting teeth.

NHS dentistry has been in crisis for years, with industry leaders saying the sector is chronically underfunded.

But thousands of NHS dentists quit during Covid, and industry polls suggest even more dentists are considering going completely private in the near future.

Dentists claim it is no longer financially viable to offer NHS procedures under the current contract due to a lack of government investment.

Last month, the British Dental Association (BDA) also warned that the decaying dental industry was ‘losing its way’ and called on the government and other parties to take action to reform the ‘broken’ service.

A ‘discredited’ contract system is fueling the crisis, according to the BDA.