London woman shares dental tourism nightmare to warn others
A woman from London has shared her experiences of botched dental work to warn others to think twice about going abroad for treatment.
Aida Azizii, 26, decided to have cosmetic dental treatment while visiting her family in Iran. She acted on impulse after seeing friends and family who had sparkling white teeth and booked an appointment with a dentist in Tehran. She was offered an appointment shortly after she called and admitted that she didn’t even look the clinic up on Instagram before taking the decision to undergo treatment.
When Aida arrived at the practice, the dentist was busy with another patient and so his assistant started the procedure. She agreed to have composite veneers, paying a fraction of the cost she would have paid in the UK. After the assistant left, the dentist took over and she was in the chair for a total of nine hours, leaving the clinic at 4am.
After the procedure, Aida looked in the mirror to see her smile and her heart sank immediately. She described the veneers as looking like ‘piano keys’ and said that she looked like a horse. She had asked for a natural look but said that the brightness of the veneers was “ridiculous.”
Aida called the clinic the next morning hoping to resolve the problem but she could only see the assistant who shaved the teeth down, causing her considerable discomfort. She was in so much pain that she couldn’t close her mouth properly or eat.
Unhappy with the results of her treatment and still in pain, Aida researched local dentists and found a clinic with a good reputation. When she saw the dentist there, he was shocked at the quality of the work and set about fixing the teeth. He said that the veneers were so large that the pressure would have eventually caused Aida’s natural teeth to fall out.
Aida wanted to share her story to encourage other people to consider having dental treatment at home and raise awareness of the potential risks of dental tourism. For anyone who is going abroad for treatment, Aida recommends carrying out extensive research and checking dentist qualifications first.
