Dental Travel Insurance

nworb

I'd like to go to Spain to visit my daughter and to have root canal treatment - its very much cheaper than my local dentist.  But the challenge is getting travel insurance.  I'm over 70, have annual insurance, but if you go for a planned dental operation the policy is void.   I've also found a service that will provide insurance for the dentistry element,  but it doesn't cover any other aspects of the service.   I'm at a complete loss here - not sure how to proceed.   Anyone have any ideas?

Emmia

What's the plan for sorting out any issues with the root canal back in the UK?

Toothsmith

I'm a bit curious to know what the 'dental insurance' will cover?

I'm doubting it will cover you having the root filling done in Spain, as it's a 'pre-existing condition' that you're going out to get treated. Is it to cover potential problems you might have with it afterwards if it needs further treatment whilst back home.

There is nothing wrong with getting dental treatment done abroad - if you actually live abroad. Dentists in other countries are just as good as dentists in the UK, and just like the UK there is good and bad in every country. If I lived in Spain I would be perfectly happy going to see a Spanish colleague as my regular dentist.

The fly in the ointment with any medical tourism procedure though is that people are not like washing machines. It's not a case of taking a faulty bit out and banging in a new part, and everything works again. People respond in different ways to the procedures, and whilst everyone's 'bit's' are very similar, there is quite significant variation and where as some things can work very well in some people, other people can have 'difficult' teeth, or respond in more extreme ways to the interventions.

If you had to contact a dentist in the UK with a problem that has arisen from the work of another dentist, be it a UK dentist or a foreign dentist - the first response would almost certainly be to contact the dentist who did it. So this would mean an expensive and uncomfortable flight back to Spain to get it looked at. 

So as @Emmia said above - you do need to think what would happen if a problem did arise when you came back to the UK.