A sales assistant was left with a hole in his throat after he used a tooth whitening kit to get a smile like his favourite actor.
Jake was left with a gaping hole in his throat after using Crest 1hr Express Strips
22-year old sales assistant, Jake Barrett, from Rushton, Northamptonshire, has been left with a hole in his throat after he used a tooth whitening kit to get a smile like his favourite actor, Channing Tatum.
He was left with a grape-sized sac of peroxide bleach under his tongue after he suffered a rare reaction to the Crest 1hr Express Strips. It was 48 hours after he applied the £65 treatment that a painful cyst full of poison started to develop under his tongue, which could have burst at any moment and burned down to his stomach.
The tooth whitening kit that Mr Barrett used
He endured the pain for six days before finally admitting himself to the A&E department at Kettering Hospital, where doctors discovered the grape-sized ball of hydrogen peroxide. The chemical compound is found in several whitening treatments, including bleach and disinfectants, as well as being used to make homemade explosives.
He had to undergo an emergency 3 hour operation to drain the sac with a tube inserted through an incision under his chin, leaving him with a gaping hole.
He said: "The doctor told me that the sac that had formed was the size of a grape, and so delicate that any moment it could have leaked hydrogen peroxide down my throat. If that had happened, I would have got peroxide poisoning and died.
"I wasn't sure what the liquid was or why it had formed, but I assumed I would be OK and that the penicillin I was taking for something else would treat that, too. But over the next few days, the bulge continued to grow until I could barely swallow. I was limited to drinking smoothies and soup, but even they didn't go down easily - eventually I gave up and went to the hospital."
He also had one of his back teeth removed, because it had become infected with peroxide, and after ten days in hospital, was finally allowed home.
"I was so focused on getting a Hollywood smile I didn't stop to think about the damage it might do to my teeth. When you buy beauty products you just assume they are safe - especially when it's a big name like Crest.
"When I found out the chemical could have poisoned me, I was in shock. Now, I feel lucky to be alive, " Barrett said.
He has vowed to void DIY beauty products, but did not let the experience put him off having a Hollywood smile.