Another Dentist Abroad Thread

Florrie_Fimble

My daughters dentist was a specialist in childrens orthodontics. I suppose I could try and pass for 13 and see how it goes. Maybe a really tight ponytail to smooth out the face and I could strap down the cleavage...

As for money - I have up to £5,000 to spend on this but it would go much further if I went abroad, which is why I'm considering the possibility. Also - just because I have some money doesn't mean I wish to throw it around without concern for what I'll receive in return.

Other than that, thank you for taking the time to post.

welshdent

Orthodontists don't generally do general dentistry anyway so dressing up may not work ;-)

Fruball

I lived abroad for a while so used the services of a dentist and what I would say is to join an ex-pat website in the area that you are considering, then ask for people's recommendations and see if your chosen clinic comes up

Me, I asked around a bit then followed gut feeling But I realise that is not entirely sensible or adviseable

Florrie_Fimble

Well I've decided to go with Kreativ and I'll post honestly about my experiences good or bad as I go along. They aren't the cheapest option by any means, but they have been the most responsive to my many queries and sent lots of information through via email and post. The facilities also look excellent, but I'm aware I'm taking something of a leap into the unknown. I'll be speaking to them on the phone tomorrow.

As I type this I'm sitting here with my loose crown having fallen out. Eek. I feel strangely calm about it all now. Since I floss, mouthwash and brush with a swanky toothbrush I'm hoping that I'll be able to maintain anything I get done. I'm not interested in cosmetic procedures like veneers - I just want to chew again without worry!

I've read through some of the other much longer threads on this site and would like to thank dental posters like Brook2Jack, Toothsmith, Welshdent and Teerah who seem to have spent a huge amount of time giving advice that has proven very useful whilst looking around - and often in the face of some truly scary hostility. How I wish one of you had been my dentist all those years ago.

Florrie_Fimble

Update time!

I'm on day 3 of my visit to Kreativ in Hungary. My crown came off and revealed an unholy mess underneath so things became a little more urgent.

My first appointment was on Monday. I had an xray of my entire jaw and then two smaller ones of specific teeth they wanted to look more closely at and then quite a long physical exam.

The dentist asked me what I'd like and I explained (fix broken teeth, straighten others etc). He told me I had a very healthy jaw, no sign of gum disease and that all my non-treated teeth were in good condition. He then made me laugh by telling me that if I wanted the front ones straightened slightly I was to get a brace from a good English dentist and to not let anyone do it "the lazy way with veneers or crowns". He said "those are good teeth - guard them!" Apparently it's not practical for me to get a brace abroad because constant adjustments might be needed.

With that out the way I was given a treatment plan which consisted of 7 crowns. 4 are replacements of old ones - he showed me where there were holes under them which isn't good apparently. He was very complimentary about some of my root canals and not so thrilled with another which they will redo. They have an endodontist here who apparently just does root canals all day long. What a fun job!

He's replacing two fillings with white but says there is no need to replace another amalgam one because it's doing its job and it will remove tooth unnecessarily.

After I got the plan I was left to do what I liked. No one pressured me, no one tried to make me sign up to anything - to be honest I think they have so many customers they needn't resort to time-share style tactics. He even offered to just fix up my missing crown to keep it from infection if I wanted to go home and think about things.

Obviously I chose to stay. I took the treatment plan and compared basic prices to a local dentist at home and I'm saving approx 2.5k. Obviously that isn't hugely accurate since there will be things I'm charged for here or there that will vary but the big difference is clearly the price of the porcelain crowns which are working out at just over 200 pounds each.

The facilities are amazing. 4 floors of labs topped off with a cafe with the free internet access I'm typing this from.

So - I've decided that I'm going to do a proper bloggy type article about this on my own site rather than whitter on endlessly here but I wanted to let people know there is definitely one good dentist in Hungary

Things to avoid when looking -
places keen to push implants, veneers or whitening.
Things to check for -
do they guarantee their work?
do they look after you? - I was picked up from the airport, my flight and first night stay paid for (as I've commenced treatment over 1500 pounds) and the hotel I'm in even has a menu for dental patients having different types of work.

So now I'm waiting for my first root canal. I have two more appts this week then it's home for 3 weeks before returning for a week of crown fitting - and then it will all be done. Hoorah. I've just had a horribly thorough clean from the hygienist who was very nice and stopped when she saw I was crying like a big baby. You have to remember - just because it's in another country doesn't mean your teeth don't magically not hurt whilst someone has at you with a cleaning tool made by Satan!

welshdent

Hope it goes well for you.

Toothsmith

Sounds like he's considering the right things and certainly not pushing over-treatment - which is good.

I'm always uncomfortable with patients of mine who travel from other parts of the country to see me though - even if it's only the other end of the county. Everything is fine so long as everything behaves itself and works like it should do.

But when you're dealing with living entities, it doesn't always. Even if you do things completely correctly, sometimes the body just reacts badly. Not a good thing to happen if you find yourself some distance from your dentist, as seeing someone else in an emergency is always a compromised situation.

brook2jack

Glad you are getting sorted but please don't "fit and forget". Having spent so much look at what caused the decay "holes under crowns" and change your diet and cleaning so that you can keep this work. The hygienist is a good person to speak to about this.

Get yourself a regular dentist back home then to help keep everything healthy as the clinic guarantees probably stipulate that you have to have regular check ups and scale and polishes.

Good luck.

Florrie_Fimble

We had a good chat about this actually. I was ill for quite a few years until my gallbladder was taken out and a few other bits rectified. So I spent a long time with excruciating acid indigestion or quite often having sick in the back of my mouth. I'd never really thought about that having an impact before, but it makes sense. They had wondered if I'd been bulimic because apparently you can see the effect. Also I need to rectify parts of my diet as you said, less fruit juices etc.

I'm back now letting a few things heal up and will return in a few months. Everything else went swimmingly apart from the suckytool deciding to slurp up under my mouth and then me getting a fit of the giggles when they couldn't remove it at first

I'm scouting for a good local place now - and I'll also want to get braces fitted when the other work is complete. Now I seem to be cured of my dental terrors (I walked into a dentists near here and didn't bat an eyelid :T ) it's definitely important to get back on track with a UK practice.

brook2jack

Just so you know you will need to probably budget £1300 to £2000 ish for braces and will be thinking about 18 months ish of treatment with visits every 6 weeks or so.

However if you have had some root treatment done this must settle first and most particularly if there are diet issues to be resolved then you should wait until everything is stable before undertaking braces, because fitting braces on someone with acid reflux or acid diet is a pathway to tooth destruction. Acid erosion is a nightmare problem to tackle because if it is not controlled decay will just start again under your new crowns.

I would look for a good general dentist who you are happy with and they can refer you on for orthodontics when you are ready rather than making a practice that does braces a priority.

Has the Hungarian clinic suggested a high fluoride toothpaste (only available on prescription in UK) or tooth mousse etc? These might be useful in conjunction with your diet and cleaning changes.