A 37-year-old mum has said she had high hopes when getting new veneers at a prestigious dental clinic - but the procedure left her housebound for three years.
Jade Simmons booked the procedure at a clinic in London after spotting an advert for £1,699 veneers on Facebook.
The mum-of-three was excited but said that just days after, her teeth began crumbling in her mouth, leaving her scared to eat.
She told the Manchester Evening News: "Every time I heard a crack I instantly knew what it was and would burst into tears.
"I was too embarrassed to leave the house, I even started to avoid my own family because I was scared they would judge me for how bad they'd got."
After months of back and forth with the London clinic, Jade's teeth became so severely broken she showed up at her family dentist begging for help.
They examined her mouth and were reluctant to do any work due to the extent of the damage.
The dentist told her she had three fractured teeth and a nerve that was severely damaged and required an urgent root canal.
But having already spent months saving up for the initial treatment, single mum Jade was unable to find the cash to get them fixed.
Sadly, she was left with no choice other than to leave them to deteriorate over the next three years.
"I was struggling massively with my mental health because of what had happened," Jade added. "I was severely depressed and prior to this nightmare I already suffered with bipolar, so it massively affected my mental health.
"I didn't want to leave the house; I wore a mask at work to keep my mouth covered at all times and I even avoided seeing my own mum out of anxiety and embarrassment."
After years of avoiding looking in the mirror and being too ashamed of her smile, Jade decided enough was enough and filmed an emotional video explaining what had happened to her.
After publishing the video on TikTok, she was contacted by a clinic that arranged dental work for her. That set things right, but cost £4,100.
A month on from the treatment, Jade says she finally has her confidence back – but still finds it hard to smile and has to remind herself not to hide her teeth anymore.
"It's honestly changed my life," she added. "The clinic must think I’m not grateful because even now, a few weeks after the treatment I'm still having to train myself to smile again and remind myself that I no longer have horrendous teeth. I speak to people now and feel more confident, but it's a slow process.
"People used to think my teeth were bad from taking drugs and my own daughter said I looked like I'd been chewing rocks.
"It's a difficult thing to come to terms with but when I look at my smile in the mirror now, I'm forever grateful to the clinic for completely changing my life.
"I lost myself for a couple of years. Learning to speak properly again has been hard as the damage to my teeth also affected my speech quite badly. I constantly felt judged by everyone that saw me.
"I'd completely given up on life but I’m finally starting to feel like myself again."
