Love Island is to blame for dangerous 'Turkey teeth' according to a Leeds dentist

Jon Hewitt, the Principal Dentist at Smmmile, in Boar Lane, hit out at the “Turkey teeth” phenomenon. It involves young people flying to Turkey to get ultra-white symmetrical smiles on the cheap by filing down a large percentage of each tooth and having them replaced with crowns.

The practice has had more exposure than ever this week, as it was cited in the very first episode of the new series of Love Island on Monday (June 5). Google searches for the phrase “Turkey teeth” rose by 10,000% overnight after the ITV show premiered.

But Dr Hewitt has warned that the practice is more dangerous than it might seem. He said: “Young people often don’t realise that there can be real long-term damage jetting off abroad to places like Turkey for the cheaper dental treatments.

“When you get a full set of crowns, the teeth are permanently filed down to pegs, so even though it might be cheaper upfront, people going to Turkey also don’t think about having to get them restored every 10 to 15 years.”

He also blamed social media for the rise in young Brits heading abroad for cheap dental work where procedures cost as little as £3,000, compared to the £16,000 mark in the UK.

He said: “Seeing celebrities smiling with perfect teeth on social media is a major influence on young people. They often come to me saying they want the ‘Love Island look’. In Turkey, they do it for much cheaper and faster compared to the UK, so people go there. But they don’t realise there can be real long-term damage using that method.”

Dr Hewitt added: “I had one young lady who came to me in tears saying ‘please help me, I know I have ruined my teeth’, and another client who had been to Turkey and her teeth were literally fused together – you couldn’t even pass floss between them.”

For more information on Dr Hewitt’s practice, go to the Smmmile website.