Woman is left with third-degree BURNS after a botched teeth whitening treatment

A teenager who wanted to celebrate having her braces removed by having her teeth whitened says she has been left looking like 'the next Kylie Jenner' after suffering a severe reaction to the treatment.

 

Abbie Kilbride, 18, from Renfrewshire, says she woke up the next day feeling like 'her gums were about to rip apart' from the swelling and blistered caused by the gel, and five days later she is still unable to eat.

 

In a lengthy Facebook post, which has been shared more than 7,000 times, the teenager revealed via a series of images the painful-looking blisters she'd been left with on the inside of her mouth.

 

Abbie wrote: 'I just wanted to put a post up about the past couple of days and explain what's happening/happened and hopefully this will stop anyone else making the same mistake as me...'

 

The treatment took an hour and Abbie says the woman, who she's refusing to name, topped up the bleaching gel every 10-15 minutes. She says that she wasn't asked about how old she was and no allergy testing was performed.

 

When the treatment time was up, Abbie says in the post that her 'whole mouth was numb' something which the practitioner dismissed as being 'normal' and simply suggested the 18-year-old applied lipstick to cover it. 

 

Two hours later, with her mouth still swollen, Abbie used antihistamine and ice to try and help reduce the swelling.

 

Worse was to come however. When she woke up the next morning, the reaction had got more dramatic. Abbie explains: 'I woke up the next morning and my two lips were literally stuck together and the whole right side of my lip was huge as if I had been in the boxing ring.

 

She continues: 'I went to the chemist for some advice on what to use but they advised I just went straight to my GP.

 

'I sat and waited in my doctors for a cancellation, after waiting all I was told by the doctor (who looked at my lips and laughed) what I done was extremely stupid and it was a lesson learned even after saying I couldn't drink and my whole mouth/tongue was numb.'

 

After being chastised by her GP, who prescribed her more antihistamine, Abbie says she retreated to her chemist, who offered bonjela for the sores that had appeared inside her mouth.

 

The blisters left her feeling like her 'whole mouth felt like it was on fire' and she says the smaller blisters began to melt into two large ones.

 

'The next morning I woke up, still the same pain but the swelling on my lips had went down slightly but instead of having lots of small blisters inside my mouth I had two huge ones (one at the top and one at the bottom ) which were a yellow colour.'

 

Finally after calling the NHS, Abbie was given an appointment at the Glasgow Dental Hospital where she was seen by three different dentists, who said her injuries were akin to 'third degree' burns.

 

The teenager says she's now on medication to treat the infection and on a strict diet of 'soup and scrambled egg.'

 

The moral of Abbie's story, she says is: ' DO NOT just go to anyone to get your teeth whitened.

 

'I was completely unaware that only a dentist can you this treatment so if your booked in anywhere other than a dentist/dental nurse. Please, please stay away!

 

After she wrote her post on Facebook friends rushed to offer their support, with many urging her to report the practitioner. Lynn Adey wrote: 'She needs to be held responsible for what she's done.'

 

Megan Rose Leitch commented: 'Glad you've been seen properly and are on the mend,' while Joanna Evans said: 'Hope it clears up now looks so painful. That woman should be named and shamed.'