The Great 'Medical Tourism' Hunt

theredfox_2

gobatt wrote: »

My wife and I go to South Africa each year where we have our dental needs attended to. The standard of dentistry is of the best,with no delays and no unnecessary work being done to padd the account. With the very favourable rate of exchange , the money saved pays for our air tickets. Try it and see for yourself.

Gordon Batt

Could you mention where exactly you go?

theredfox_2

woolybully wrote: »

my wife & i visit goa nearly every year & were highly scepticle about using the country's dental system !! how wrong we were.
i was the one who initialy "tested the water" & what a fantastic result. we were introduced by our taxi driver, & cut a long story short, myself, my wife & my 2 daughters have all attended this dentist with exeptional results (and saved approx £ 7000.00)
the biggest surprise is that my wife hasn't visited a dentist since the law was passed that you can't be anethetised, but this dentist spent 2 hours with her, reassuring her that all would be fine & the result is she can now visit him without any qualms whatsoever.
if anybody is interested he is dr piedade fernandes in cavelossim goa.

This guy?
http://www.fernandesdentalcentre.com/

theredfox_2

HoneyPhilip wrote: »

My wife is Filipino and for some while now I have had my eyes tested and bought glasses whenever we go over there - much cheaper - Oakley frames at 'own brand' UK prices. One time we went, it was (tactfully) suggested that I see a dentist about my crooked stained teeth (ex smoker - never bothered me - I don't have to look at them!!). I had not even considered cosmetic dentistry in the UK so have no idea about price, but I had 8 teeth on the bottom and 4 on the top corrected in three seesions ALL PAIN FREE WITH NO ANAESTHETIC (no, I have no idea how that works...) at a total cost of £35. This was 18 months ago, I have had no problems with them, my UK dentist is very impressed by the quality of the work, my Filipino dentist reckons I might need them re-doing in 10 years (big deal!!). Return flight to Manila from the UK costs around £400, and The Philippines is a wonderful country for a holiday.

Can you tell us where you went exactly?
This is what we need - precise recommendations.

theredfox_2

Jaystar wrote: »

The standards of medical and dental care in South Africa are very high and, given the present exchange rate, very cheap too.
I have relatives in Durban and often have dental work during my visits to them. Another friend of mine had a nose job during a weeks holiday in Cape Town, he was very impressed with the work and spent his recuperation period suntanning on the beach!

Can you advise us then, on where to go in Durban?

theredfox_2

amabel wrote: »

Re: Economist article. We go to Thailand every year as my partner's brother lives there. Last year for the first time we had dental work done as our UK dentist had gone private. We were very impressed with the treatment at the clinic in Chiang Mai. They had state-of-the-art equipment, a team with experts in several aspects of dentistry, a team-working approach whereby the opinion of a colleague was sought, if felt necessary to make sure the right kind of treatment was given. And, the bills were modest compared to what we would have had to pay at home. We will certainly have our teeth checked again at our next visit.
Oh, by the way, I have only once before posted a reply. It depends on whether people have experiences worth sharing and in this case quite a few of us seemed to.

What clinic in Chiang Mai did you use?

theredfox_2

C'mon guys, I'm serious: it's not a challenge, its a request for information and ideas so I can find somewhere good to get a teeth-fix holiday

Consumer power, etc etc.....

I was considering Thailand, but its not my number one holiday target.

Denzelpuppy

theredfox wrote: »

C'mon guys, I'm serious: it's not a challenge, its a request for information and ideas so I can find somewhere good to get a teeth-fix holiday

Consumer power, etc etc.....

I was considering Thailand, but its not my number one holiday target.

Hungary - Budapest is the Paris of the East and most people speak English as the Magyar language is difficult to learn, theres plenty of Dentists to choose from and loads here have posted good links to some pretty amazing dentists

David_Mee

theredfox wrote: »

Whats that supposed to mean? Stabilise? Habits?
Its just nonsense. Dentists aren't educators or philosophers, and most averagely educated people understand how to look after their teeth: avoid sugar, brush them, floss them, nuke the bacteria with strong mouthwash (makes a big difference - I recommend it highly), and thats all there is to it.

If this were true then dentists would be out of business - they aren't - so it can't be true!

How did their mouth get into the state its in? By Magic?? (Sure, trauma is different subject but more difficult to fix as bone usually lost too)

So, if they are the sort of people who do not look after their mouths why would they miraculously change overnight?

What would be the point of slapping £400 (or £1800) pounds worth of work in their mouth only to have it fail? You HAVE to change the habits otherwise its pointless.

Lots of work done abroad is excellent and there's no problem with it but you have to figure into the equation what happens if it fails - do you go back and spend an equal amount again to redo it? Do you try another clinic? Do you opt for UK based care?

There are hundreds of different implant systems in use worldwide - when the crowns / bridges / dentures need aftercare will you be happy having to keep flying back to have them checked?

It may seem like a simple "money-saving exercise" but its not just a one off hit.

If you buy something cheap from US and it breaks and you have to post it back to US would you consider it money saving?

If e.g. people living in Lake District are priced out of the area because rich southerners want a "cheap" holiday home is that right?

So why price people out of dental care in their own country?

Sure its easy to pick on the gross figures earned by dentists and scream and shout but this just shows complete ignorance of FACTS. You have failed to knock off expenses as Toothsmith pointed out ages ago - staff need paying, bills need paying, suppliers need paying etc etc You have also failed to look at other equivalent professions - how much do lawyers get paid?? Why no thread suggesting you go to Hungary for legal aid?? How much to GP's get paid??

Sure, you are mad, you want something for nothing and can't get it - so, go abroad, get it cheaper, no-one's stopping you - if it all goes well everyone will be wishing you well and congratulating you on saving a bundle - if it doesn't there will be an equally long list of us saying we told you so!

theredfox_2

What a ridiculous, offensive rant - mad! FACTS! ignorance! ?????!!! etc.
I read the quality press, not the Sun, so I'm uninterested in such exchanges.

I'm not engaging any more with any debate aboutthis; got better things to do, like find a good, cheap, overseas service. I'll just note one point and one point alone, which is that the meaning of my remark re. 'that's all there is to it' is found in the context in which I said it, referring to what I said. Thanks for all the "advice" - what happens if it goes wrong etc etc - but I'm perfectly aware of all the issues, thanks, and am proceeding with this accordingly in regard to treatment the 'severity' of which you know nothing: in fact it's not too serious. I'm not here for other people's entertainment re. what my plans are, so why sneer like that? - go shout at a football match, or a politician, and have no doubt you will not get the opportunity to say 'I told you so', or anything else, since you do not know me and never will.

I'll wait to see if any more useful information gets posted.

rac_3

David_Mee wrote: »

If this were true then dentists would be out of business - they aren't - so it can't be true!

How did their mouth get into the state its in? By Magic?? (Sure, trauma is different subject but more difficult to fix as bone usually lost too)

So, if they are the sort of people who do not look after their mouths why would they miraculously change overnight?

What would be the point of slapping £400 (or £1800) pounds worth of work in their mouth only to have it fail? You HAVE to change the habits otherwise its pointless.

Lots of work done abroad is excellent and there's no problem with it but you have to figure into the equation what happens if it fails - do you go back and spend an equal amount again to redo it? Do you try another clinic? Do you opt for UK based care?

There are hundreds of different implant systems in use worldwide - when the crowns / bridges / dentures need aftercare will you be happy having to keep flying back to have them checked?

It may seem like a simple "money-saving exercise" but its not just a one off hit.

If you buy something cheap from US and it breaks and you have to post it back to US would you consider it money saving?

If e.g. people living in Lake District are priced out of the area because rich southerners want a "cheap" holiday home is that right?

So why price people out of dental care in their own country?

Sure its easy to pick on the gross figures earned by dentists and scream and shout but this just shows complete ignorance of FACTS. You have failed to knock off expenses as Toothsmith pointed out ages ago - staff need paying, bills need paying, suppliers need paying etc etc You have also failed to look at other equivalent professions - how much do lawyers get paid?? Why no thread suggesting you go to Hungary for legal aid?? How much to GP's get paid??

Sure, you are mad, you want something for nothing and can't get it - so, go abroad, get it cheaper, no-one's stopping you - if it all goes well everyone will be wishing you well and congratulating you on saving a bundle - if it doesn't there will be an equally long list of us saying we told you so!

If you would take the time to read this entire thread, you will see there are Hungarian Dental practices which offer aftercare at UK based clinics.

As for the rest of your post, I refer you to my earlier comments.