OK, this is one that has definitely attracted some attention in recent months. Many of our patients ask about it; some joke, others are genuinely curious, so we thought we’d give you our views on the idea of going for a holiday and coming home with a new smile.
We use the phrase “Turkey Teeth” to describe any situation where someone has ventured to a different country in search of a “low cost” makeover.
Unsurprisingly, we have a few (well quite a lot) of concerns about this. Going to see a complete stranger who knows nothing of your previous history, background or dental situation to have a potentially destructive and almost certainly irreversible procedure is a difficult one to comprehend but it still seems to attract a lot of interest.
It is probably fair to say that cost is almost always the driving factor on this. Dentistry in the UK is expensive and becoming steadily more so, so we absolutely understand that people may feel that complex treatment might be out of reach based on costs alone.
Let’s take a look at the hidden costs though. OK, so for the price of a holiday plus a little more (but certainly less than you’d pay in the UK) you could take a 2-week break in Eastern Europe (or Turkey…), have your front teeth crowned and return home with a new look you’re (hopefully) happy with. What then? Have you talked about ongoing maintenance? What is the follow-up schedule? Who deals with post-op problems or complications? What about replacements as and when things fail? It’s unlikely a dentist in the UK would be keen to help and (sadly) the litigious society we now live in means many dentists would actively distance themselves from any association with these types of treatments. It’s not always going to be easy to “pop in” to see the treating dentist abroad to deal with a problem.
There’s really no substitute for a carefully considered discussion with your own dentist to go over what (if anything) might be appropriate for you if you are looking to make changes to your smile.
As ever, we’re here to help if you need us. We can give you information on whitening, orthodontics, minimally invasive bonding and payment options so we’d urge you to think twice before booking the flights…..
Mike
