Going abroad for medical/dental treatment- possibly Turkey

eDicky

Voyager2002 said:

textbook said:

Surely a reviewed hospital or doctor/dentist reviewed honestly on a forum by people who've been/possibly other expats would be a  good start.   This was how I found a doctor years ago; I spoke to people who had met him or reviewed him thoroughly and it at least appeared to be a good decision.

I wouldn't trust a hospital's own reviews on itself in somewhere like Turkey obviously.

In the case of dentistry, most patients (myself included) do not really know how to tell good treatment from bad, apart from things like pain relief and general 'manner'. It is perfectly possible for someone to leave a dental clinic relieved that it did not hurt too much and their problem is solved, write a good review, and then discover six months later that the treatment they received was not appropriate and their problem has actually got worse. I have not thought about other medical treatment.

I think this is very true, and also applies to treatment in UK, where treatment I've received has usually led to subsequent problems. I've found ethnic Chinese dentists in East Asia to be the most competent in general.

Even recommendations by friends are not necessarily reliable. When I arrived in Vancouver from South Asia, mid 70s, in need of some treatment, a friend recommended his dentist. I received compliments from him about my being an excellent patient, sometimes falling asleep in the chair, but overall his work turned out to be not very competent. Later I asked my friend how he came to this dentist, "Oh, he's the first one in the phone book"..! - Dr Aalblas ... Ayaahhh..

Voyager2002

devondisplay said:

You can probably find a group on facebook, don't be deterred easy, its much much cheaper to get treated in Turkey and some have verified reviews, one I come across is registered with general medical council and some of these medical people seem to be at the top of their game, there private hospitals look very very good

Check their registration.

I seriously considered a dental clinic because their website stated that their dentist (in the speciality that I needed) was a member of a particular professional society. I checked with them, and they had never heard of her. I contacted the clinic, and although they replied they did not answer my question why their website was making a claim that was untrue. I also considered clinics in Poland that made claims that did not check out (again about one dentist being registered with the British Dental Association: you can see the list of members online and he was not there) and they did not give an explanation when asked.

Even if a review is verified, you have to consider whether, at the time of writing the review, the patient could reasonably have known whether or not the treatment was good.

TELLIT01

There is a phrase making an appearance in the media recently "Turkey Teeth".  It's being used to describe the mess dentists in the UK are having to address trying to repair work done abroad.  I'm not suggesting that all foreign dentists are bad, but do your homework thoroughly before having treatment abroad.

Voyager2002

TELLIT01 said:

There is a phrase making an appearance in the media recently "Turkey Teeth".  It's being used to describe the mess dentists in the UK are having to address trying to repair work done abroad.  I'm not suggesting that all foreign dentists are bad, but do your homework thoroughly before having treatment abroad.

Seconding this: to repeat, I thought I had identified a suitable dentist in Turkey but when I tried to do my homework the results just did not check out.

Anyway, the OP is planning a trip for weight-reduction surgery, so all should be fine.

CKhalvashi

Voyager2002 said:

TELLIT01 said:

There is a phrase making an appearance in the media recently "Turkey Teeth".  It's being used to describe the mess dentists in the UK are having to address trying to repair work done abroad.  I'm not suggesting that all foreign dentists are bad, but do your homework thoroughly before having treatment abroad.

Seconding this: to repeat, I thought I had identified a suitable dentist in Turkey but when I tried to do my homework the results just did not check out.

Anyway, the OP is planning a trip for weight-reduction surgery, so all should be fine.

Reviews from friends and family can be better than anything else.

I've used a Georgian dentist for some years, run by someone with mutual friends and recommended by someone separate.

sheramber

I understood the OP was looking for dental work and his friend was wanting wait loss surgery

I think you talking to yourselves as the original post is no longer.

stoneman

I went to Turkey to have 3 implants. Cost was £2k including transfers and 5 star hotel. Paid half up front.Long story short, I only lasted one night. Left without having anything done and 90% of my money refunded. 

Voyager2002

stoneman said:

I went to Turkey to have 3 implants. Cost was £2k including transfers and 5 star hotel. Paid half up front.Long story short, I only lasted one night. Left without having anything done and 90% of my money refunded. 

That is intriguing and I for one would be interested in the long story. Was the 5 star hotel really that bad?

stoneman

Voyager2002 said:

stoneman said:

I went to Turkey to have 3 implants. Cost was £2k including transfers and 5 star hotel. Paid half up front.Long story short, I only lasted one night. Left without having anything done and 90% of my money refunded. 

That is intriguing and I for one would be interested in the long story. Was the 5 star hotel really that bad?

Ok, they didn’t scan my face until the day of the procedure. At which point I was told I would need a bone graft at an extra cost of £500. I assumed the high extra cost was because they would have to give me a general as they needed to take it from my hip. 

No need they said, we’ll do it under local at the same time as we drill your mouth!! 

Manager was called and with my raising my voice in a somewhat crowded waiting room agreed to refund me. One caviat, I am put on a hush order from mentioning the name on social media 

mentaldentist

stoneman said:

Voyager2002 said:

stoneman said:

I went to Turkey to have 3 implants. Cost was £2k including transfers and 5 star hotel. Paid half up front.Long story short, I only lasted one night. Left without having anything done and 90% of my money refunded. 

That is intriguing and I for one would be interested in the long story. Was the 5 star hotel really that bad?

Ok, they didn’t scan my face until the day of the procedure. At which point I was told I would need a bone graft at an extra cost of £500. I assumed the high extra cost was because they would have to give me a general as they needed to take it from my hip. 

No need they said, we’ll do it under local at the same time as we drill your mouth!! 

Manager was called and with my raising my voice in a somewhat crowded waiting room agreed to refund me. One caviat, I am put on a hush order from mentioning the name on social media 

That is not OK.
I work in dentistry in Turkey, and we often get patients from abroad. Clinic should have returned all your money, because they changed the treatment plan in the clinic examination. (I am assuming you went there with an initial plan based on photos & X-rays)

Also - in general, pre-payment is a bad idea. They should treat your flight ticket as your commitment.