The rise of dental tourism – my experiences

[chrisste]

Anyone interested in knowing more as I’ve just arrived in Izmir to have 4 implants and 7 crowns replaced at a fraction of UK costs. Pretty slick service so far and it’s very very cheap now in Turkey.

• This topic was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[Mr. AC]

I’d be interested to learn more!

1. How did you find a reputable provider?
2. What material did they use for the crowns?
3. What was the average price per implant and per crown?

[Aston100]

£300 per zirconium crown is your target.

[toddy]

If your employer has a dental insurer provider:
1) most provide worldwide cover
2) most will cover pre-existing conditions (as long as the treatment plan as not commenced)

[Barraclough]

If there is a follow-up problem you would need to go back or use a UK specialist. I had implants in Spain three years ago but an implant screw came loose after about a year and I had to go to a UK specialist who initially struggled to find the correct screw fitting because the Spanish one was different. Another year on and the filling over the screw cover came away and I also had to have that done locally. Having highlighted this I’m still glad I had the implants done abroad and I saved a couple of thousand pounds!

[The Savage Squirrel]

Please do be very careful and do your research.

Turkey has many oustanding dentists, some of them genuinely world class, who will be able to do it at a lower cost than is possible for a comparable level of work in the UK

BBCode you used is not allowed.

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They also have some dentists that market to UK tourists and produce work that is low-cost high-turnround and is not planned or executed with long term health in mind.
Doing a good job is always slower and more costly than doing a bodge job. If you go there looking ONLY for the absolute cheapest possible, or are going on “dental holiday” package deal, then you are in grave danger of finding the second type of dentist rather than the first. Cost needs to be one consideration, but not the only one.

There’s one particularly well known Turkish clinic (that markets heavily in the Merseyside area), whose speciality is heavily drilling down healthy unrestored teeth to replace with ultra-white straight crowns; where tooth whitening and straightening could have achieved a similar – in fact better – result without the destruction of healthy tissue and commitment to a cycle of lifelong replacement. That is exactly the sort of thing you need to avoid.
Informing someone – who had that their previously healthy teeth drilled to stumps and replaced with ill-fitting crowns, which rapidly fail or cause problems, that they require complex rehabilitation at a cost many times what it would have cost to solve their initial problem, and that even with this there is no way to ever return their mouth to its pre-treatment condition, is not a pleasant conversation. There are always tears…

All dental work, no matter how good, requires maintenance and will, eventually, need replacement (remember your mouth and teeth are superbly evolved to grind up and destroy anything and everything they meet – that is their function after all). There is a chance of complications and unexpected events for any medical/dental procedure no matter how well executed. Be very clear of the realistic lifespan and how you intend to deal with maintenance and replacement of any work you have done. Be very clear how you would deal with any complications or corrections that are required – particularly urgent problems such as pain or infection (The NHS can not and will not provide replacements for failed or poorly executed cosmetic work or dental implants. Even in private practice, dealing with any poor execution or failure is difficult and may cost many times what the initial procedure did). Be clear exactly what regulatory and legal protections are in place and what recourse you have should the work not be satisfactory.

Hope that is of some help with what to think about.

[Nate1309]

Be very prepared mentally and financially for every dentist in the UK to refuse to sort out any problems that arise. Not once have I seen a patient not have problems with “cheap” dentistry placed abroad. Yes there are excellent dentists in Turkey, however they are very often charging slightly lower prices due to the UK due to a lower staff, material and overhead costs.

Lots of the clinics pay “influencers” a monthly retainer to appear happy. When in actual fact they are tied into contracts whether the dentistry they have had placed fails or not.

It baffles me that people want the cheapest option in their mouth. But each to their own.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[TimM]

My mother had a bridge to replace 2 front teath in a very non-touristy dentist in Manavgat (Antalya, Turkey) in October 2020. In a typically Turkish way, she given the choice of two manufacturers and three qualities. The best of the best was a little short of £1,000 in total. It took three visits over two weeks and now has four German teeth.

She is entitled to free NHS dental care but despite being on several dentists’ waiting lists for years, not one has accepted her. All that was available was emergency dental care, i.e. the removal of two front teeth if she was in pain, but not their replacement. The ‘rise in dental tourism’ is as much a reflection of not being able to access NHS dentistry in the UK as it is about the lower private costs abroad.

[AndyGWP]

We went to Sofia in Bulgaria in 2019. We had a guide for a day trip to Plovdiv whilst there and the guide mentioned that dental tourism was booming. No actual first hand experience for me, but might be worth a look if anyone is researching

[PointsChaser]

TimM wrote:

My mother had a bridge to replace 2 front teath in a very non-touristy dentist in Manavgat (Antalya, Turkey) in October 2020. In a typically Turkish way, she given the choice of two manufacturers and three qualities. The best of the best was a little short of £1,000 in total. It took three visits over two weeks and now has four German teeth.

She is entitled to free NHS dental care but despite being on several dentists’ waiting lists for years, not one has accepted her. All that was available was emergency dental care, i.e. the removal of two front teeth if she was in pain, but not their replacement. The ‘rise in dental tourism’ is as much a reflection of not being able to access NHS dentistry in the UK as it is about the lower private costs abroad.

Yes, anyone looking to register with a new dentist in the UK, NHS or private, will most likely struggle. Not a nice position to be in which makes dental tourism a viable option.

[SamG]

I went to Budapest with Vital Europe a few years ago – saved a few K on 2 implants and a bridge, all went very smoothly. Had no problem getting the crown replaced in Singapore (my own fault, I grind my teeth and hadn’t been using the mouth guard as instructed). My new UK dentist says everything is looking good.

After much research the reason I went with them is they do have a branch in London so the extractions could be done here to save on one trip & any follow ups / issues you can go there first of all

[Lady London]

The Savage Squirrel wrote:

Please do be very careful and do your research.

….

.
.. work that is low-cost high-turnround and is not planned or executed with long term health in mind.
Doing a good job is always slower and more costly than doing a bodge job. If you go …looking ONLY for the absolute cheapest possible, or are going on “dental holiday” package deal, then you are in grave danger of finding the second type of dentist rather than the first. Cost needs to be one consideration, but not the only one.

….

All dental work, no matter how good, requires maintenance and will, eventually, need replacement (remember your mouth and teeth are superbly evolved to grind up and destroy anything and everything they meet – that is their function after all). There is a chance of complications and unexpected events for any medical/dental procedure no matter how well executed. Be very clear of the realistic lifespan and how you intend to deal with maintenance and replacement of any work you have done. Be very clear how you would deal with any complications or corrections that are required – particularly urgent problems such as pain or infection (The NHS can not and will not provide replacements for failed or poorly executed cosmetic work or dental implants. Even in private practice, dealing with any poor execution or failure is difficult and may cost many times what the initial procedure did). Be clear exactly what regulatory and legal protections are in place and what recourse you have should the work not be satisfactory.

Hope that is of some help with what to think about.

Savage Squirrel in which of the main European coountries are dental standards high and aiming mainly to preserve health and minimise maintenance for the long term? One would think perhaps Germany or France but as insurance-oriented systems I am wondeting whether excess interventions would be a temptation to dentists there?

[The Savage Squirrel]

Lady London wrote:

Savage Squirrel in which of the main European coountries are dental standards high and aiming mainly to preserve health and minimise maintenance for the long term? One would think perhaps Germany or France but as insurance-oriented systems I am wondeting whether excess interventions would be a temptation to dentists there?

Although there are some differences in approaches around Europe, most dentists in (in fact the overwhelming majority) in pretty much every country are ethical – despite the bad press a few generate that stands out (similarly name a GP who is not your own – bet you said Harold Shipman; yet the other 50,000 GPs aren’t murderers…). The Scandinavians – Sweden especially – are leaders in periodontal care and implants. Italians are (unsurprisingly) particularly famous for their artistic sculpting work using dental composite (fillings that look like teeth). Germany are leaders in dental equipment and precision engineering while Japan are leaders in dental materials. It’s almost laughably consistent with national stereotypes 😀 . Hungary has a low cost base, a couple of fairly highly regarded dental schools (including one that teaches its course in English which may help with the all-important communication) , and works within some EU quality frameworks, so if you must take your chances abroad then it’s probably a better bet than Turkey.

The problem comes in any country if people try and access the absolute bottom rung of the cost ladder because they think anything “abroad” will be extremely cheap rather than a little cheaper. It’s not – the world-class dentists in Turkey I mentioned may treat a case at 20% or so lower than UK costs from comparable dentists, but not much more than that. Ultimately someone who mashes through cases as quickly as possible without a thought for treatment planning or quality can always easily outcompete on cost against a dentist working with quality, care and precision in any location. Dealing with repeated failure of poor work is time-consuming and expensive and risks regulatory sanction, so this mash-through-’em model only makes sense if you work on patients with little ability to come back and complain or seek recompense for failed work – so in lightly regulated jurisdictions treating naive tourists sucked in by infuencers would be the ultimate sweet-spot for the cowboys. Therefore someone seeking cheap tourist-focused dentistry via google is at extreme risk of hitting the sort of dubious low-end clinic that aggressively chase only this market.

If you go higher up the quality end then the cost savings just aren’t that great. Take the £1000 brdige referenced earlier. You won’t get a bridge on Harley Street for that (not that the top dentists/doctors are found there anyway) but it’s about the same as what I charge. That’s with fabrication by a high quality local technician who I’ve worked together with for a decade and working myself (I hope) to a pretty high standard and after significant postgraduate training. I’d say the sweetspot in the UK is finding an independent practice with a stable team that trades on care and local reputation (not advertising – our ad budget has shrunk to £0 as we have grown for years as fast as we can cope with entirely on word-of-mouth), in a small town or large village location where maintaining a reputation long-term is everything. Almost every non-NHS dentist focused on long-term relationships will run a monthly membership plan to help people avoid sudden high costs; so strangely enough going regularly is often cheaper than not going at all for years – given the big repair bill at the end of that option when things finally fall apart.

NHS dentists were very hard to find in 2019 and since then capacity has shrunk by 35% while a large backlog has formed. As a result, I doubt there’s an NHS dentist in the whole of England currently accepting new patients for routine work. However with (crucially) a little time and effort putting an ear to the ground for personal recommendations, there are plenty of high quality modestly priced private dentists available right now.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[Aston100]

A decent place in Turkey charges less than half the price compared to a decent UK place. The saving might be even greater these days
Not sure why you think one would only save twenty percent over there.

[John]

I registered with an NHS dentist in London 3 weeks ago and was seen the next week. My wife also registered at the same time and had some fillings done this week.

I understand why UK residents might want to go to Turkey or EU countries, but depending on one’s travel plans (at least before covid!) Hong Kong and Singapore might also be options, with dentists trained to / above UK standards and English-speaking.

As an Australian citizen, I used to have my dental work (and glasses) done in Australia when I went on holiday. I probably wasn’t supposed to but they let me claim some money back from the government – but even at the full price a non-citizen tourist would pay, it was a significant discount from private costs in the UK, at least for routine and minor stuff

[Lady London]

The Savage Squirrel wrote:

Lady London wrote:

Savage Squirrel in which of the main European coountries are dental standards high and aiming mainly to preserve health and minimise maintenance for the long term? One would think perhaps Germany or France but as insurance-oriented systems I am wondeting whether excess interventions would be a temptation to dentists there?

…

Thanks Secret Squirrel.

What you’ve said is pretty much what I’ve found. The work I need is going to cost me pretty much the same anywhere. The NHS if anything, about 2/3rds of the cost. BUt that’s only if you already have a good NHS dentist. Which I do, but his also very excellent assistant can’t keep the massive protective PPE on for more than an hour at a time, and not too often in a day for a whole hour, due to health issues. So I need to try to source elsewhere, things that are becoming urgent due to the lengthy time we have had constraints on throughput due to Covid.

I’ll be seeing a new highly recommended dentist next month. She doesn’t know me, so I’ll voluntarily be doing a covid test 2 days before to make sure I’m clear and will tell her so.

[RobL]

Would there be any saving buying dentures abroad?

[The Savage Squirrel]

Aston100 wrote:

A decent place in Turkey charges less than half the price compared to a decent UK place. The saving might be even greater these days
Not sure why you think one would only save twenty percent over there.

Well to answer that question, first, tell me how you judge that a dentist is “decent” and that you’re comparing apples with apples.

[The Savage Squirrel]

RobL wrote:

Would there be any saving buying dentures abroad?

Dentures are a classic example where one or more visits for small adjustments may be needed in the days and weeks after fit as the mouth adapts to the new denture. This is a normal part of the fabrication process. Trivial if you’re going up the road; not so much if it’s a 4 hour flight away; so don’t forget to include that in your budget…

[RobL]

Good point.

[RobL]

Any advice on buying dentures in UK?

[The Savage Squirrel]

RobL wrote:

Any advice on buying dentures in UK?

Depends what you’re after. For complete upper + lower dentures without implants in play:

You can spend £300ish on a basic NHS set.
You can spend £800-1200ish on a good private set. (I’d suggest this will satisfy the requirements of most people).
You can spend £11000ish (not a typo) on some of the best dentures available in the world (as per my previous posts – the dentist who charges this: the one most often recognised as the best denture dentist in the UK – works in an obscure unwealthy northern town with a population of 4000, not in the W1 postcode, and yet doesn’t need to advertise at all.)

And most things in between.

As ever, personal recommendation based on prevoius experience is the way forward. If you have particular requirements or expectations then do make these clear at the outset or they can’t be met. If they are difficult to achieve or require advanced techniques then this gives the dentist the chance to refer you to someone with the necessary skills or to discuss other options.

[Adrienn]

Hello Everyone,

I am recruiting volunteers to participate in a study conducted by Swansea University about dental tourism motivation and satisfaction with respect to visiting Hungary. I will be conducting interviews on a video conference platform (at the participant’s preference) for this study. Participation is open to all non- Hungarian adults who stayed at least one night in a paid accommodation in Hungary and recently visited Hungary for their dental treatment. The interview is expected to take 45- minutes and participants will receive a £30 Amazon gift card to thank them for the participation.

For more information or to participate in this study, please message me via this social media platform or send an email to a.sandor2@herts.ac.uk or to 947129@swansea.ac.uk.
Please share message and poster if you have any friends or relatives who would qualify for the participation.

Thank you very much in advance.

[Richie]

@Adrienn You may get a bit more interest if you explain what your research is for.

BTW I did look at Hungary for a dental implant but decided against it and had it done in the UK.

[Amy C]

I had several crowns done in Budapest in 2009. Excellent work and been praised by many dentists over here since. I didn’t stay the night though. There and back in a day and returned 5 days later to have them fitted.