Emmerdale star – I lost my teeth due to bulimia.

EMMERDALE actress Gemma Oaten has spoken out about losing her teeth due to an eating disorder.

She told GB News: “This is one of the parts of the eating disorder that people don’t discuss because your teeth are integral to life and to think that they could go, it’s not something that you want to even contemplate.

“An eating disorder is very manipulative, it’s very secretive., it makes you feel very ashamed.

“I know because I felt disgusted. I was made to feel disgusting by my dentist when I was younger. I remember going to the dentist when the acid was eroding my teeth.”

Talking in an interview during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, she added: “I felt so much less of a person for so many years.

“And I think this is what a lot of people with eating disorders feel like. They feel like they haven’t got a voice and they lose identity because the eating disorder takes that away.

“It’s a mental health illness but I do feel like now I’ve actually got the chance of moving forward with my life.”

Gemma, who is also CEO of SEED Eating Disorder Support Services, said: “I recovered 14 years ago but the journey is ongoing. The ramifications on my physical health have been vast.

“It’s been a massive shock to the system but a lot of people I’ve spoken to about out about it are going through this. Early intervention is the key.

“The sooner you get help, the sooner somebody can come back from the brink of losing their life – I don’t just mean physically losing their life, but mentally losing their life for all of these years.

“It’s an incredibly serious illness.”