Mr Marino later told the hearing the teeth impress

Mr Marino later told the hearing the teeth impressions Hossack sent him were so poor he offered to supply the dentist with the proper equipment to make them.

The businessman said Hossack gave him a box of clay models from patients’ teeth but it was clear he had not let the substance dry and harden before removing it.

Mr Marino said: ‘The quality of the impressions was absolutely dreadful.

‘I have never seen anything like it before.

I phoned him a few times and asked who was taking the impressions because the material from the crown and bridge work had not set.

‘It was still soft so on removal from the mouth it would have pulled or scratched.

‘There was hardly any detail there.

The impressions were incomplete and had not set properly.

‘They were not smooth as they should have been, they were lumpy.

‘

Mr Marino said he was so concerned he sent Hossack a tub of special gel to take impressions with but the dentist never used it.

He added: ‘The material that was being used for the impressions looked old.

‘It did not look fit to do a good job but he carried on using it.

‘Sometimes the impressions were so bad I returned them to Mr Hossack because I could not do anything with them, but I did not get a reply.

‘

Another lab owner revealed his frustration at Hossack’s refusal to pay for work.

Joseph Tattershall told the hearing that Hossack sometimes kicked up such a fuss he would do the work for free.

Mr Tattershall, from the Colchester Dental Laboratory, said: ‘I did the work and I expected to get paid for it.

‘On numerous occasions I asked Mr Hossack why he had deducted fees from the invoice and he said the work was not good enough.

‘Sometimes I would phone him up and ask what was going on.

‘He would say he was not happy with the work.

‘The work would then come back to me and he would get them done for free.

‘I think that probably happened about three times.

‘

The hearing continues.

ends