Dental Treatment Abroad

Baglady_2

I had successful dentalwork done a few years ago now in the Czech Republic, as I've posted on this forum about previously. I would recommend where I went not only for the professionalism, but the huge savings I made, in comparison to what I would have had to pay in this country. I was skint, on benefit, and very depressed and afraid because my teeth were in such a state and no NHS dentist here would touch me. Not even a student at Guys. It worked for me.

BitterAndTwisted

Gee, how could someone skint and on benefits afford to travel abroad for dental treatment? I'm a wage-earner and it would be out of the question. Am I missing something important here?

Baglady_2

Well at the time, Ryanair were offering 1p flights plus airport tax. I couldn't even get a return train fare to London for what my flights cost. My teeth needed work. I could not afford the dentist here having sought quotes for the necessary work. As I said, I've posted about this on here before. After research, it was definitely a no-brainer and in my opinion, I got an excellent result. If I were to have had the work done here, I'd probably still be paying for it.

BitterAndTwisted

I'm not disputing that you were happy with the work and found a solution which made sense to you at the time, it's just that at £64 a week on JSA I can't see how a person could actually save up the amount required. If I found myself claiming, and I do fear that I might have to in the present climate, I'd be hard pushed to keep my head above water never mind actually being able to save anything. What was your secret, starvation?

mandy_44

nadishda wrote: »

dental tourism is really nice as you can enjoy your holiday in addition to having a quality dental treatment, and at the same time it is not costy at all, the best place to go is Hurghada-Egypt and primadent is the best clinic there for the quality dental treatment it offers and the good vacation in the adorable red sea:rotfl:

Oh yeah we will really take your word for it. You have made one post :rotfl:hjahahahaha

scrappagescheme

Some years ago I had the misfortune to have a front tooth crowned by a local dentist who had been recommended to me. He drilled into the pulp of the tooth but did not root fill it ; subsequently I suffered a great deal of discomfort but fortunately was referred to the London Hospital dental institute who accepted me as a patient and put everything right.Since then I have carefully looked after my remaining -damaged and repaired- teeth but now one heavily and deeply filled tooth has broken and I need a crown.
I am aware that there is a danger that the substitute for my my current NHS dentist ( on leave of absence) may be unwilling to spend the hours of careful work on everything that needs to be done for the £198 available on the NHS. I am also worried that I could suffer a repetition of what happened to me in 1979 when the root filling was not done. I have been to the dentist for check ups every six months and this is the first work I have needed in many years.
Any advice woudl be appreciated.

vorniq

I'm pretty sure you can get good dental treatment everywhere you go... It's just a matter of good diligence and careful planning. There's always going to be good and bad dentists no matter which country you visit, and even if you choose dentistry at home, you're bound to come up with good as well as bad experiences.

Pennylane

Hello Toothsmith - I've seen you recommend on here that people go & visit their new dentist before they pay out any money. Are you meaning NHS?

The reason I ask is we seem to be lucky if we get to see a receptionist, let alone a dentist. Yes I checked out the surgery, which is newly opened and therefore clean and tidy. Beyond that you can't check anything really. You certainly can't go in and have a little chat with the dentist and check out his chair-side manner.:p

I've just paid nearly £200 (NHS) for 3 fillings and a crown (my first ever) A week later hubby went and has to have his first ever crown but nothing else and that's costing him the same.:eek:

I asked if I could have a scale & polish (I'm sure I've said this before) and was told I couldn't because it isn't "clinically necessary."
Yet we always got one in the past. Does this mean my teeth have to get covered in gunge before I can have a scale & polish? Despite regular cleaning etc they are not as clean as they should be, in my opinion.

His exact words were "you wouldn't scrape the windows on your car if there was no ice on them would you?"

The first time I went he wasn't too bad and he gave me the form telling me what I needed doing & at what cost. I was asked to complete a very comprehensive form asking about general health, whether my teeth caused me any embarrassment and whether I was a nervous patient etc.

I said I was a nervous patient and he made no attempts to reassure me. The second time he just about managed to say "hello", was quite rough and seemed in a terrible hurry. I was also kept waiting 40 minutes before seeing him. The temporary crown was perfect and I was really pleased but several weeks down the line my permanent crown is REALLY senstive to cold drinks, food etc.

Toothsmith

Pennylane wrote: »

Hello Toothsmith - I've seen you recommend on here that people go & visit their new dentist before they pay out any money. Are you meaning NHS?

The reason I ask is we seem to be lucky if we get to see a receptionist, let alone a dentist. Yes I checked out the surgery, which is newly opened and therefore clean and tidy. Beyond that you can't check anything really. You certainly can't go in and have a little chat with the dentist and check out his chair-side manner.:p

In my sig line, I'm meaning either NHS or private.

Your post did make me think though. I suppose for a brand new, newly opened practice, it's all a bit different.

In a practice that's been there for a while, you can generally get quite a good feeling for the practice by just meeting the receptionist.

If she's fielding phone calls from patients in pain all day, that she has no room to book in, and the patients that are in the waiting room are always complaining about running late, and things going wrong, and wanting their money back - you're eventually going to get a grumpy short tempered receptionist who's really not very welcoming, and enthusiastic to recommend the benefits of their practice.

If you meet a receptionist who has time to do her job properly, can book people in straight away if they have problems, deals with happy grateful patients keen to pay their bills and even gives them the odd tin of biscuits as a 'thank-you' - then you're going to meet a much happier person who is keen to extole the virtues of that practice.

With a brand new place - no one is really going to know each other, and everybody will be new and keen. So it might well look really fantastic, and everybody is enthusiastic - but that's a false impression.

So be a bit more careful with brand new practices!

Meenu

I suspect that its probably cheaper and less hassle to make several trips abroad.