But she has been left powerless to get compensation for the botched treatment because the private dentist who gave her dental implants in Cornwall in January 2010 has since moved to Poland and been struck off.
She said: ‘I have been left looking like a monster. I’m embarrassed when I talk. I feel like people are staring at me. My confidence has been affected, my speech has been affected, I can’t eat solid food and nobody does you justice. To be left like this, you can’t believe it can happen in this country. There’s nothing I can do. I have a mortgage to pay and bills. I cannot afford to fix this. I don’t want other people to fall in to this situation.’
The work had been undertaken by self-employed dentist Piotr Tadeusz Reichel.Dr Reichel’s licence to practise has been suspended by the General Dental Council ‘for protection of the public and in the public interest’ – in relation to care of several patients.Gabriela, from Keysham, Devon, said:
‘I went back to the clinic but they said the dentist is self-employed and it’s his responsibility, his insurance will pay. Then you go backwards and forwards, investigating and investigating.’
A letter from Gabriela’s lawyers last year stated they are unable to pursue her case due to Dr Reichel’s indemnity status.
It stated that although Dr Reichel had insurance at the time of the treatment ‘the policy was not adequate to cover claims made after the relevant insurance period had expired’.They said she would have to enforce any judgement against him in Poland, which was unlikely to be successful.
She had previously had her upper teeth removed due to chronic root-canal infections because of an underlying health condition.
A denture in her lower jaw was also failing. She had the dental implants – four metal rods in her upper gum. A bridge of teeth was to be attached at a later date.The procedure failed and Gabriela also lost her lower denture.
Gabriela is backing national campaign ‘Bridge the Gap’, launched by the Dental Law Partnership, which calls for changes in the law.
She has approached MP Oliver Colvile who has written to Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley about the issue.
Mr Colvile, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said:
‘I’m horrified by what has happened to Gabriela and am very supportive of her case. We have got to try and close this legal loophole because people rightly expect when they go to a dentist, to be treated properly.’
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