Another Dental work in Turkey post?

fzbob

I know this has been discussed b/4.
but would like to know if anyone here has visited one in turkey lately, and would like to express your opinion, please?

sheilavw

not lately, but had a bridge done in Fethiye about 15 years ago and its been fine

chanie

My MIL had some significant work done a few years ago and hadn’t had any problems.  Her teeth look great. 

fzbob

Thank you guys/gals.
Would you care to PM me the Dental surgeries involved, please?

YoungBlueEyes

I watched a prog a wee while ago on BBC called Turkey Teeth: Are They Worth It? (or similar). 

From memory, it was a 50/50 split. If you got a good dentist they got good work and were very happy. But the ones that went wrong really did go wrong, and folk struggled to get them sorted here because dentists won’t touch foreign work. Those that did manage to find someone to fix their problems were faced with large bills. 

Maybe it’s on iplayer? Worth a watch. 

welshdent

regards the comment that dentists wont touch foreign work. I feel I need to add some clarity to that statement. 

It isn't uniformly true. I have treated many Polish patients for example with Polish dentistry. I have treated Aussies, Russians, Americans, People from all corners of the world. 

The issues arise with a) complex work and b) cosmetic work.

I will come to the cost issues later but if you have had for example implants done. The average dentist simply is not trained to manage them nor are they indemnified to manage them. That means if they tried to intervene in failing implant work and it didnt work. There is a significant chance they would be left with no legal cover. 

When people have full mouth crowns which is typical for Turkish cosmetic plans (They are NOT veneers). This is extremely complex dentistry and very often as well as multiple crowns, there is significant changes to the bite (occlusion). There are advanced level training courses just to TRY and understand how treat occlusion problems. It's not basic dentistry. The average dentist may only place a couple of crowns at a time. I have a masters degree in dentistry and I have never placed more than 4 crowns in one go and they were replacing old ones  that had been fine and I could copy their position. When someone rocks up with 23 poorly placed or eventually failing crowns in a completely reorganised bite. That dentist has probably NEVER managed that sort of case before. Not to mention multiple root fillings that may very likely be needed in very complex teeth. 25% of healthy teeth that have crowns go on to need root canal treatment. Cosmetic preparations that are often employed in these cases are often very aggressive and carry a high chance of nerve death. 

I mentioned indemnity before. May indemnity companies take the view "if you touch it you own it". That means if you have the best of intentions for parts of the work and it doesn't go well. You are liable for all of it. Not particularly fair. 

Regards costs. NHS courses of treatment do not distinguish between 1 or 20 crowns. "The NHS" doesn't pay for treatments per se. It provides one set fee per course of treatment. There are 3 fees depending on the band. The dentist takes financial responsibility for the course of treatment. If the treatment costs more than the NHS pay then it comes from the dentists pocket. 

SO with that background. If you were to go to Turkey and against all advice have full mouth crowns placed. If all those crowns had issues ( I have personally seen a number of cases where every single crown had faults)  the dentist is faced with the following situation

1. Work that they have never attempted to carry out
2. Work that if they touch it the indemnity may not even cover them for
3. Work that will far FAR exceed anything the NHS will pay them to do. The NHS fee just about covers at most 2 crowns at a push. So they are financially out of pocket for the other 21 crowns plus ALL the other work needed. So potentially thousands.

All for work that the patient chose to do to themselves. 

I hope that sheds some light on why dentists wont touch treatments carried out in places such as Turkey. 

If you have treatment like this, dont be surprised if you struggle to get access to care here and are met with "go see the people that did it"

mentaldentist

I work in dentistry in Turkey. And honestly, there is an element of money greed: many clinics will very easily shave and crown perfectly healthy teeth.

But - if you need a major dental work, Turkey can be a good option. An average dentist is significantly more experienced compared to their colleagues in North America or Europe, because they are less afraid of laws, and are able to see many more patients in the same amount of time. A regular graduate in Turkey has seen hundreds of cases in Turkey, vs many fewer in the west.

Also the prices are fair. I am saying fair, not cheap. I think the prices in the west are ridiculous, considering most materials and technologies are basically the same. Last week a patient was quoted 15,500USD in the US for a work that would cost 2800USD with us. Which is with good amount of profit included.

So I think it makes sense to travel. But do your research well. Don’t go for the first clinic on Google or the one with the most fancy hotel.

Pollycat

@mentaldentist
Are you aware that this thread is over 2 years old?

NECROPOST

YoungBlueEyes

I don't know how I missed your reply @welshdent, thank you for the clarification.

Toothsmith

mentaldentist said:

 An average dentist is significantly more experienced compared to their colleagues in North America or Europe, because they are less afraid of laws, and are able to see many more patients in the same amount of time. 

Those 'laws' are directives on how we sterilize our equipment and clean down the surgeries between patients. It's true, it does slow down the amount of patients that can be seen in any given hour.

Having complex surgery carried out in my mouth though - I'd want the equipment to have been cleaned and processed like the laws in Europe & USA dictate. 

mentaldentist

Toothsmith said:

mentaldentist said:

 An average dentist is significantly more experienced compared to their colleagues in North America or Europe, because they are less afraid of laws, and are able to see many more patients in the same amount of time. 

Those 'laws' are directives on how we sterilize our equipment and clean down the surgeries between patients. It's true, it does slow down the amount of patients that can be seen in any given hour.

Having complex surgery carried out in my mouth though - I'd want the equipment to have been cleaned and processed like the laws in Europe & USA dictate. 

I’m not talking about the laws of hygiene - Strange to assume we don’t sterilize equipments between patients.

I’m talking about the lawsuits, and the extreme fear they put on dentists. It is patients’ right to hold the clinic responsible for their errors, but this should not cripple the system.
Today’s technology allows %95+ success rate in dental operations, but complications do happen. I do not think they happen more often in Turkey vs. Europe or US. But the impact to the patient is bigger due to distance. So it is important to choose well before deciding. 

This may help: https://youtu.be/YIwBMiuYFG4?si=PYcJ3PIgpxwo9s7u