A LOVING grandmother from Basingstoke has been fundraising to receive a set of sparkling new teeth, after losing them during her chemotherapy treatment.

Joanne Coupland, 56, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer two years ago and since then has gone through six cycles of chemotherapy, despite this the cancer has been diagnosed as terminal.

The chemotherapy treatment made the housekeeper very poorly and her teeth unexpectedly become loose. Sadly, one by one they eventually had to be taken out.

Since then, Joanne said she has been left suffering from a lot of pain in her mouth, which quickly become unbearable and made her feel ashamed of her smile.

Joanne hopes that getting a new set of teeth will bring some much-needed happiness back into her life.

She said: “If I had a new set of teeth, I would just feel so wonderful, and it would make me feel so happy.”

Joanne finds smiling particularly hard when it comes to spending time with her four young grandchildren, who just want to see her smile.

She added: “If I had a new set of teeth, I would be able to smile at my grandchildren again without feeling so embarrassed of the smile I have.”

Joanne, who used to be an active person prior to her cancer diagnosis, said that having terminal cancer ‘destroyed’ her life, and she now barely has any strength.

She added: “I wouldn’t say I am brave because you don’t have a choice, when you're told you have cancer your whole life changes and suddenly you have appointments to attend, not forgetting the number of times you have needles put in you for treatment and bloods.

“You become a bit of a pincushion, it's mentally challenging too and you want to make plans for the future but your sort of stuck in limbo.”

Joanne set up a Go Fund Me page in a bid to raise money to get back her smile, she has currently raised £185 but is still a way off from the £2,000 target.

She hopes that more people will help her be able to smile again in the time she has left.

To donate, visit https://uk.gofundme.com/f/joanne-coupland-new-teeth.