Tooth tourism booms as dental patients flock abroad

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GENERALLY SPEAKING, a trip to the dentist is rarely a highly anticipated event but in the United Kingdom, any fear of needles and drills is further heightened by waiting week long and bills that are prohibitively expensive. Hence, the birth of a burgeoning trend in dental care known as tooth tourism.

A cousin to medical tourism, tooth tourism is the act of leaving one’s country to check about low-cost dental treatments in a neighbouring country or even in another continent. The UK’s Office for National Statistics shows that 1.68 million UK residents embarked on dental tourism to Mexico, the Caribbean or Latin America in 2007. More than one million tooth tourists travelled to India.

What can they save on their dental treatments? Up to 70 per cent of the cost of dental work in the UK. A titanium implant costs as little as £495 and porcelain crowns as little as £178. In addition to taking advantage of incredible savings, many of these tooth tourists are able to combine their procedures with sightseeing and relaxation, before treatment or while in recovery.

For the uninitiated, seeing a dentist in a strange land might be cause for concern, but many tooth tourists are turning to online services like toothtourism.com, which have already done the homework for them.

“Our medical professionals have travelled the globe to meet English-speaking, board-certified dentists who welcome tooth tourists,” said Cheli McDonald. “We have personally toured the dental clinics, met the dentists and their staff and verified their credentials to help tooth tourists feel confident, safe and secure on their dental vacation.”

Toothtourism.com represents board-certified dentists in Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. The company has also added an Australian, board-certified dentist in India and is researching candidates in Europe.

If you are considering becoming a tooth tourist, before you embark on your international dental holiday, it makes sense to trust a company that can point you to qualified, English-speaking dentists who have passed their ’check-ups’.

ToothTourism.com, a Canadian internet-based organisation, offers assistance to patients seeking lower-cost dental care in international countries, including information on board-certified dentists, financing and insurance. ToothTourism.com is owned by a licenced Canadian doctor, a licenscd Canadian pharmacist and their partners.