How far would you go to see a dentist? A few suburbs or across the state perhaps? How about another country?
As the dental implants cost here in Australia continues to rise, it’s no wonder that people are travelling abroad in record numbers in search of cheaper dental options – options like a tooth implant in Thailand. But is dental tourism really the best choice?
Here’s what we know…
There are several associated risks when getting dental implants abroad that you wouldn’t necessarily have to worry about with dental implant treatment back at home. This is irrespective of whether you visit a reputable dental clinic or hospital or a cut-price back-street clinic. These are risks that can cost you a great deal of money and your overall health.
Let’s take a closer look at some of those risks.
Risk 1 – The time factor
Very few people hop on a 9-hour flight to undergo a solitary tooth implant. Thailand dental tourists (and those who visit other destinations) usually do so because they need multiple treatments.
Treatments that may on paper appear unaffordable back here in Australia. However, while focusing on that all-important dental implant cost saving, they typically forget to consider that all-important factor – time!
Unless a person is travelling on an open-ended flight ticket, most people who consider getting dental implants abroad will have a limited time-frame in which to undergo treatment. Most foreign implant dentists know this and may take unnecessary risks to provide the treatment needed within the time frame a patient has.
Undertaking multiple treatments without the necessary recovery time could jeopardise not only the success of a dental implant but also a patient’s overall health. It’s no wonder then that the increase in people opting for dental implants abroad mirrors the recent increase in the number of people returning to Australia with less than satisfactory outcomes.
Risk 2 – Grounds for recourse
When you undergo a dental implant back here in Australia you can feel safe in the knowledge that if something does go awry, you can go back to your dentist and they will take a closer look. This isn’t so easy when you undergo a tooth implant in Thailand and your dentist is over 7,500 km away in a different country.
Unfortunately, even though dental implant treatment has on average a 95% success rate, there are many factors that may cause an implant to fail. They include…
- Improper placement
- Placing a restoration in a diseased or problematic implant site
- Dental implant rejection (although rare) and
- Osseointegration (bone fusion) failure
Moreover, problems can occur 3, 6 or even 12 months down the line – long after you have returned from your trip.
The question you need to ask is, “if a problem occurs after getting dental implants” how easy is it to seek recourse?”
Of course, if your dental implant dentist is in the next suburb or state, then it’s likely to be relatively easy but it becomes far more difficult when your implant dentist isn’t even in the same country.
Even if you do pay out for another flight back to your destination, there is no guarantee that your chosen dental implants dentist will do anything about it. Even if they do, you may have quite a job of convincing them that the problem lies squarely with them.
More often than not, most people end up contacting a dental implant dentist here in Australia to fix the problem. A problem that the dentist has no knowledge of as they try to piece together the bits of the puzzle to bring about the best solution.
Either way, your initial cost saving is likely to be a dim and distant memory as the dental implant cost now starts to rack up.
Risk 3- Standards of care
Before we go any further we do need to point out that undergoing dental implants in places like Thailand doesn’t necessarily have to end in a bad experience provided you choose a reputable and well-respected implant clinic or hospital. However, and typically, these aren’t the places offering cut-price dental implants at ridiculously low rates.
The ones that are, however, may be cutting dental implants cost by offering inferior quality implants, employing less staff to care for you or indeed cutting corners on vital factors like applying proper bacteria and infection protocols. Either way, it’s unlikely to end in a pleasant and trouble-free experience at best and at worst, it could cause you a great deal of harm.
Even when you do your homework and choose a trusted clinic for your tooth implant, dentists in Thailand aren’t always trained to the same exacting standards as those back here in Australia.
In Australia, everything the dentist does is highly regulated so as a patient, you’re in safe hands. Even when things do go wrong, there are strict protocols that you can follow to quickly bring about the best course of action. Unfortunately the same can’t always be said when you undergo dental implants overseas.
In truth, although the cost of getting dental implants abroad may appear undeniably attractive, you could be getting a lot more than you bargained for.
So what’s the alternative?
If you feel that your health, safety and peace-of-mind far outweigh any dental implant cost savings then contact the team at No Gaps Dental. With 15 locations spread throughout the Sydney Metro area, we provide competitive pricing on dental implants treatment without compromising on quality.
Moreover, we offer flexible payment options across many treatments including dental implants, so if you are considering undergoing a tooth implant in Thailand or any other foreign destination, we urge you to come and talk to us first. At least this way, you’ll be armed with all the facts allowing you to make a fully informed dental decision. So go on, what are you waiting for…
Schedule a dental implants consultation, call us at (02) 8806 0227 today!
Note: Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks.