A Brit who flew to Turkey to get his teeth fixed and achieve a “Hollywood smile” ended up on the brink of death due to a severe brain infection. Martynas Kurrantas thought he would finally have the teeth he had always dreamed of, writes The Sun.
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Instead, just three months after the first stage of treatment, the 46-year-old man collapsed at home with multiple seizures. During this nightmare, he had to endure five brain surgeries, spend three months in a wheelchair, and overcome the difficult challenge of relearning to walk and speak.
He suffers from aphasia – a condition affecting speech, writing, and comprehension – and cannot return to work. After dental treatment at the Lema Dental Clinic in Istanbul, the infection spread from his sinuses to his brain.
However, he now faces a long legal battle, as the clinic categorically denies that his condition was caused by the treatment performed and rejects allegations of negligence or malpractice.
Martynas went to Turkey because he desperately wanted to be able to smile and chew normally again. Due to years of gum disease, 15 of his teeth were severely damaged or missing altogether. A private dentist in the UK quoted about £40,000 for the treatment. After six months of searching, Martynas decided to turn to a clinic in Turkey that offered to perform the procedures for £6,400.
“I just wanted to be able to smile and chew again,” says Martynas. His treatment plan included nine implants and 28 dental crowns, intended to create a dazzling white “Hollywood smile.” In April 2024, Martynas sent photos of his mouth to the clinic via WhatsApp. He says he received an eight-page treatment plan just 47 minutes later, despite no physical examination being conducted.
The service package included accommodation and transfers to and from the airport. The final bill exceeded £8,000. Martynas claims he informed the clinic about an infected abscess on one of his canines that had been there for about a year. The legal claim states he was told this would not cause problems, and the surgery was performed despite the infection.
The clinic disagrees and states it rejects allegations that medically inappropriate treatment was applied in the presence of an infection. During the first stage in May 2024, two teeth were extracted, bone grafting and sinus floor elevation were performed. After the surgery, he recovered for six days and then flew home. While waiting for the implants and crowns (this waiting period lasted six months), Martynas wore temporary dentures. He even sent a thank-you message to the clinic. “You literally changed my life,” he wrote in May 2024.
But just three months later, his life changed again. In August, Martynas began feeling increasingly unwell. Clear discharge started running from his nose, and his wife noticed his facial muscles beginning to droop. Finally, on August 31, he had seizures and lost consciousness. An MRI scan showed a potentially fatal accumulation of pus between the layers of the skull membranes.
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Doctors diagnosed infections and brain abscesses; Martynas underwent two emergency brain surgeries and an endoscopic sinus operation. Part of his skull was removed, leaving his brain unprotected, and he had to wear a protective helmet. He spent eight weeks in hospital; doctors said he was lucky to survive.
In total, Martynas underwent five brain surgeries, including a procedure where a titanium plate was inserted into his skull. Before relearning to walk and speak, he spent three months in a wheelchair. However, this severe ordeal left its mark.
“I sleep a lot, feel huge anxiety, and have lost a lot of confidence,” he says. Once a confident businessman who described himself as a “joker,” he now spends much time at home with his dogs – Rexy and Halo. His 23-year-old son Joe takes care of him and often has to communicate on his behalf because Martynas’s speech is sometimes difficult to understand.
For the past two years, Martynas also paid £300 per month for speech therapy services. Before the disaster struck, he ran his own business – developing an app for companies in the building maintenance sector. The business, started in 2022, was doing well: it brought in about £60,000 a year, and his son worked with him. Later, Martynas sold the company.
The man has taken legal action in Turkey against the company “Lema” and the dentist who treated him; he is seeking £201,000 in compensation for pain and suffering, as well as additional claims for lost income and lifelong care. The legal claim states he was not properly warned about the risks, his concerns about the infection were ignored, and the sinus floor elevation procedure was unnecessary and should have been postponed until the infection cleared.
It also states he received minimal or no post-procedure care. Martynas says he tried to contact the clinic several times after falling ill, but communication stopped when he mentioned his health condition. The clinic rejected these allegations and stated that relevant legal and medical explanations and supporting evidence were submitted to the Turkish court.
The clinic also denied allegations that it failed to conduct necessary tests, applied inappropriate treatment in the presence of infection, or made any medical errors, negligence, or malpractice.
Martynas decided to speak out so that no one else would have to experience what he and his family went through. Worse still, he found himself in a hopeless situation: no dentist in the UK is willing to complete the treatment started because they fear legal liability. The man, who once said that a cheap dental trip to Turkey “literally changed his life,” now fights to regain his former life and warns: “Don’t do it – I almost died.”
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