Man bullied at school regains confidence

Reporter BULLIED mercilessly because of a gap in his teeth, Dean Walker went into deep depression.

But the aspiring artist has overcome his cripping lack of confidence by shelling out £6,000 on his newlook smile.

Dean, from Killingworth, North Tyneside, suffered a bad fall as a three-year-old and smashed his face on a step, causing his milk teeth to fall out.

When his adult pearly-whites grew in, they were crooked and unsightly.

He was bullied in high school and called “Gappy”, and admitted he was in a “dark place” for a time.

But now the 28-year-old says he’s finally overcome his anxieties thanks to extensive cosmetic work.

He said: “As a toddler, I had a fall and pretty much smashed my face off the back step of our old terraced house.

“I was hospitalised, my gums went black and I knocked lots of my milk teeth out. It was pretty bad, with a bust lip and lots of blood.

“It was just one of those freak things – a sudden lapse of concentration. My mum was too far across the kitchen to stop it before it happened. And when my adult teeth grew in, they were all completely crooked.” During his primary school years, Dean was given a brace to wear to try and correct the teeth in his upper jaw.

But he had also developed an overbite, as if his lower jaw had been shoved back, and he was given a different brace designed to correct this.

“This thing was a monstrosity,” said Dean. “It was removable but I was advised to have it in constantly, unless I was either eating or brushing my teeth. I was only 10 years old