A Dutchman dubbed the "dentist of horror" has been sentenced to eight years in jail and banned from ever practicing again for mutilating patients' mouths and defrauding social security services.

Jacobus van Nierop, 51, “took pleasure” in the torturous pain he caused his patients, prosecutors said. He ripped out healthy teeth and left dozens of patients in a remote French village with broken jaws, recurrent abscesses and septicaemia.

The verdict was delivered by a court in Nevers, in central France, where local media relayed gory tales, some from old-aged pensioners who spoke of having as many as eight teeth pulled out in one sitting, infections and bills of tens of thousands of euros.

Aside from his prison sentence, Dr van Nierop was also banned from practicing dentistry and fined €10,500.

Initially locals were delighted with the new arrival, saying he was always beaming and seemed to have a larger-than-life character. But then the horror stories began.

People said they had teeth ripped out for no reason, and then left with infected gums and abscesses. Others spoke of how their mouths bled for days after visiting his clinic.

He was arrested in June 2013 but fled to Canada before his trial was due to start. After being tracked down in a small town in eastern Canada, he was extradited to France in 2014.

He remained quiet throughout most of his trial, replying “no comment” to most questions asked of him. According to Dutch media, he had already aroused the suspicions of authorities in his home country before moving to France.

"This is a massive relief. We must be very careful from now on when we get practitioners from abroad," said Nicole Martin, the head of a group of patients who took legal action Dr Van Nierop.