A woman was left struggling to eat and talk after her dentist gave her a set of ill-fitting dentures, the General Dental Council (GDC) heard.

Dirk Van Moerbeke is accused of serious professional misconduct over the treatment he gave 15 patients in Eastbourne and Bexhill between October 2000 and November 2004.

It is alleged he claimed payment for NHS work he did not carry out, provided inadequate treatment and was rude to his patients, the GDC's Professional Conduct Committee heard.

Van Moerbeke, of Eastbourne, admitted some of the allegations against him at the hearing in London yesterday but denied many of the more serious accusations.

Alison Foster, representing the GDC, told the committee: "The evidence shows a number of all-pervasive failures and these failures are clearly serious."

She went on: "The quality of his workmanship, his advice and his overall patient care fell far below acceptable standards."

The charge relates to Van Moerbeke's work at the Apple Dental Surgery in Eastbourne, between October 2000 to March 2003, and at the Silk Dental Surgery in Bexhill, between April 2003 to November 2004.

One woman, referred to as Patient F, was given a new full set of upper and lower dentures by the dentist in about October 2003, the hearing was told.

Ms Foster told the committee Patient F's dentures were ill-fitting and "fell out when placed in her mouth".

They were also painful, "no use for eating", and gave her a lisp, the hearing was told.

Van Moerbeke admitted refusing to provide the patient with dentures under the NHS, meaning she had to pay more than £600 for her treatment.

The dentist also admitted leaving a piece of a broken instrument in the mouth of another patient.

But he denied his record-keeping for the 15 patients fell seriously below an acceptable standard.

The hearing continues.