EXCLUSIVE: Karen Moore and her partner have been told they need to pay £25,000 for vital dental implants after the bowel cancer patient had all of her rotting teeth removed
A bowel cancer patient whose teeth were removed has been forced to live on a diet of mashed food and faces a £25,000 bill for dental implants, after being declined financial aid for the life-changing procedure.
Karen Moore, 64, from Nuneaton in Warwickshire, was already in poor health when she was diagnosed with the devastating disease in 2021, having already been suffering from conditions like Guillian Barre syndrome, fibromyalgia and post-chronic viral fatigue. She was given a series of health interventions, including major surgery to remove a tumour, chemotherapy and radiotherapy which, while lifesaving, served to exacerbate her already fragile condition.
The toll on her body eventually became so severe that she developed sepsis, and in late 2025, all her teeth were removed due to severe rotting – but she has been left toothless, and Karen’s partner has launched a GoFundMe campaign after telling the Mirror they need to cough up £25,000 for the treatment she needs.
Gary Moore said Karen’s teeth were removed after they started breaking down and she experienced “pain in literally every tooth in her head”. He explained: “It just went from bad to worse. They said in the end that the only way to deal with it is to remove them. So they did that.”
At the time, Gary, a former army reservist added, neither he nor Karen were aware they wouldn’t get help beyond a set of dentures, which were made for her but didn’t work due to gum recession.
He continued: “Apparently the gums had receded back that much that the dentures they made – even glued in – just fell out. She can’t eat anything with them. If she drinks anything they just come out, so they told us the only way to get around this is implants.” Gary said they were told a full set of implants would cost £25,000, which would cover both the top and bottom jaw, and be drilled into Karen’s cheekbones.
He added: “We were completely unaware we wouldn’t get any help. The NHS don’t want to know. They won’t fund it unless you’ve been in an accident and you’ve had all your teeth smashed out, your jaw broken, etc.”
He said the price “might as well be a million”, with Gary now desperately hoping to raise the funds while serving as his partner’s full-time carer. Karen has been left “very depressed”, having now spent more than half a year without teeth, and being fed a combination of mashed and chopped food by Gary.
He said she is surviving on a mix of greens, potato and chicken pre-prepared by himself, and is “fed up with just eating mashed food all the time”.
On top of it all she has been left feeling embarrassed and self-conscious, choosing only to leave home when she visits her doctor or the hospital. Gary and Karen are hoping to raise £10,000 to go towards the cost of the vital implants, and anyone who wants to help them reach their goal can donate via GoFundMe here.
The Daily Mirror has contacted the NHS for comment.