Martyn Kurrant is taking legal action against a Turkish dental clinic after a brain infection left him unable to walk or talk.
The British man, who had been quoted £40,000 ($54,000) for dental work in the United Kingdom, traveled to Turkey in 2024 seeking affordable treatment for gum disease that had damaged 15 of his teeth. What began as an attempt to regain his smile and ability to chew properly has instead become a years-long battle to reclaim basic functions most people take for granted.
Kurrant’s brother, John, detailed the extensive procedure during an appearance on ITV’s This Morning with hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley. “He had to have two teeth taken out, have nine implants, he was going to have a bone graft and a sinus lift,” John explained. The clinic proceeded despite Kurrant informing them of an existing abscess in his mouth, which they reportedly assured him would not interfere with the surgery.
Three months after returning home, Kurrant suffered a seizure that marked the beginning of his catastrophic decline. The infection had originated in his sinus and spread to his brain, triggering a medical emergency so severe that paramedics resuscitated him twice in the ambulance. A consultant later told him he was fortunate to have survived at all.
The neurological damage required five brain surgeries and the insertion of a titanium plate into his skull. Kurrant developed dysarthria and aphasia, conditions that robbed him of his ability to communicate and move independently. His mother, Sue, relocated into his home to help support the family through the crisis. “There was a lot of crying and devastation,” she told the daytime program.
The rehabilitation has been grueling and incomplete. Kurrant has had to relearn walking and talking from scratch, a process that continues to constrain every aspect of his daily existence. The toll extends beyond his physical health: his brother noted that Kurrant was forced to abandon a thriving business he had built, with the enterprise collapsing in his absence.
Kurrant’s case has emerged as a stark illustration of the risks accompanying the booming trade in overseas dental tourism, particularly the flow of British patients to Turkey for cut-price procedures. During the This Morning segment, dentist Dr. Rhona cited British Dental Association survey data indicating that 95 percent of UK dentists had encountered patients who received dental work abroad, and among those, 85 percent presented with complications or reported that something had gone wrong.
Kurrant himself has become an inadvertent cautionary figure, though his message to others considering similar trips abroad carries the weight of permanent disability rather than mere warning. He told the program he was “sad” and expressed a singular wish: “to be the same person he was before.”
The Turkish clinic has vigorously contested his allegations. In a statement provided to This Morning, the facility asserted: “Mr Kurrant’s treatment was carried out by qualified and experienced dental professionals following clinical assessment and informed consent. They particularly deny that their treatment caused or contributed to his neurological conditions, or that there was any inadequacy in his aftercare.”
The clinic’s statement continued with additional pushback against the family’s narrative: “They also deny the allegation about the cost of the treatment. They emphasize that these matters are currently subject to ongoing legal proceedings and they do not believe that it will be appropriate to comment further at this stage.”
No definitive causal link between the dental procedure and Kurrant’s brain infection has been established, and the clinic’s denials remain formally untested in court. The legal proceedings are ongoing, with both sides presenting sharply divergent accounts of what occurred.
The broader phenomenon of British citizens traveling abroad for dental and cosmetic procedures shows no sign of slowing, driven by dramatic cost differentials that can run to tens of thousands of pounds. Kurrant’s experience, however, demonstrates how the financial savings can be obliterated—and far exceeded—by subsequent medical costs, lost income, and irreversible health damage.
Kurrant’s original motivation for seeking treatment was modest and relatable. He wanted to chew food properly again. He wanted his smile back. Instead, he received a titanium skull plate and a rehabilitation regimen that continues to define his existence.