Getting your Dental Implants Abroad
We understand the significant investment you are making.
Here at The Implant Centre, we understand the significant investment you are making when you choose us for your implant treatment, both financially and in us as a practice. This is true of any dental implant clinic in the UK.
The high costs naturally associated with dental implants can deter people from seeing them as a viable option, and this has led to increases in dental tourism – seeking out a clinic abroad that offers a package deal of accommodation along with carrying out the dental work, for rock bottom prices. The most recent phenomenon to have taken a hold, largely thanks to the endless social media posts on the subject, is “Turkey teeth”.
A quick Google search soon throws up endless clinics abroad offering the world: perfect teeth in a few days, including a holiday in the sun whilst you recuperate, at a fraction of the UK cost.
Too good to be true? Well, yes, in short it is.
Patients who come to see us are often amazed at how involved the treatment can be, especially for the most complex of situations: our full arch and full mouth implant cases. Numerous planning appointments, working up of the temporary teeth, the surgery itself and close follow-up afterwards, then constructing the definitive teeth… How can this all be done when you are travelling abroad for treatment? The only answer is: it can’t be.
We have seen countless patients come to us for help when their implants placed abroad have run into problems. Often the patients do not want to return to the original clinic, and finding a dentist here to help them is a challenge, as many dentists do not want to get involved with another clinician’s work, particularly when presented with a mouth full of problems.
Patients usually end up paying a lot more.
Sadly, these patients usually end up paying a lot more than they did originally in order to have the work fixed. Often, the initial treatment cannot be remedied at all, or the patients would have been better off not having had the treatment done in the first place. Even after spending more money on rectifying the problem, the end result can still be sub-optimal.
As for the aftercare – there is simply no aftercare whatsoever when you buy into these too-good-to-be-true deals. Granted, it used to be common thought that implants “lasted a lifetime”, but we have enough data and experience now to know this is simply not the case. Well-executed implants that are made with care and consideration for their longevity still need their owner to look after them, and be checked by a professional regularly. Without these factors being considered, the chance of infection and subsequent bone loss around the implants is higher, leading ultimately to loss of the implant along with the bone that supported it, which may preclude the opportunity for a further implant here when this does happen.
The old adage “buy cheap, pay twice” is never more true than when we are discussing the difference between UK dentistry and dental tourism. Hopefully this current trend will run its course and dwindle in popularity; it surely has to.
Dr Guy Barwell, Implant Surgeon at The Implant Centre, talks about things to consider about going abroad for dental implants.
Dr Bill Schaeffer, Implant Surgeon at The Implant Centre, talks about things to consider about the impact of having cheap dental implants.
