A retired schoolteacher was told by her dentist to see a plastic surgeon after she complained about his shoddy work, an inquiry heard yesterday.

Zelda Hamilton-Smith said she could not smile and found it difficult to eat after Dirk van Moerbeke fitted her with dentures that kept falling out.

She said one of the Belgian dentist's assistants made her sign a form agreeing to pay for the false teeth after telling her: "You looked like a clown, now you look better."

Mrs Hamilton-Smith is one of 15 patients who claim they suffered poor treatment at his hands, at the Apple Dental Surgery and Silk Dental Practice, both in Bexhill.

Van Moerbeke, of The Piazza, Eastbourne, left customers with poor fitting dentures and crowns, costing them thousands of pounds to repair, the General Dental Council has heard.

But when patients tried to complain about his shoddy treatment, the Belgian doctor either ignored them or was "rude and brusque".

Mrs Hamilton-Smith had been a patient at the Silk Dental Surgery for 37 years when she started seeing van Moerbeke for a new set of dentures.

She told the hearing yesterday she was looking forward to a new set of teeth, but instead got a pair that did not fit properly and gave her a severe lisp.

She said: "All I wanted was a smile."

But when she tried, the teeth fell out.

"I was very upset, they were very narrow and when I smiled they fell out."

She tried to tell van Moerbeke that she was not happy - and was told to see a plastic surgeon.

Van Moerbeke is also accused of claiming money off the Dental Practice Board for treatment that was not carried out.

The hearing continues.