Are you Tempted by widely advertised Cheaper Surgery or Dentistry prices abroad like Hungary, India, Turkey, Poland, Africa, Romania Brazil etc?
So do You think all Dentistry is the same, just like cheap Jewellery bought on holiday, right? Err, WRONG actually!
Please be VERY CAREFUL indeed - there can often be hidden, sometimes irreversible dangers !!!
Do not be seduced by cheaper adverts - seek out the BEST Cardiac Surgeon, Dental Surgeon, Plastic Surgeon etc.
Yes the SAFEST and BEST trained are often in the higher half of fees, not the cheap end - your health isn't disposable like cheap jeans bought abroad....
Complex Dentistry is like Keyhole Surgery - you don't want to make the wrong shortcuts in the wrong hands because not all short-cuts are correctable and may lead to the permanent loss of any teeth or fixed in replacements - then there are all the additional Covid-19 and infection-reduction efforts and costs made here in the UK too for Dentistry, making our Practices one of the SAFEST places to be treated!
IT COULD HAVE HEALTH and OTHER FINANCIAL COSTS eg: 10x MORE TO REFIX or REPLACE DAMAGED TEETH - SO SAVE UP AND DO IT RIGHT FIRST TIME MAYBE ?!?
See latest example of additional risks of 'dental-tourism' to try and save money, mainly, eg:
CORONA VIRUS & LOCKDOWN UPDATES - We are open and treating patients normally now, though still taking extra precautions as there are Covid, Flu, 100 day cough and even E.coli outbreaks as people lower their hygiene standards, don't wash hands regularly etc. We take preventing infection very seriously indeed, as always.
Here is what a dental colleague observed relatively recently (Nov 2018) when someone had extensive Dentistry and Surgery abroad, on a discussion group where UK Dentists struggle to know what to do when these kinds of cases present here with major complications:
"I had a new patient who had been to Brazil for hers. Implants joined to teeth with perio and endo problems. Also boob job and bum implants! All of it was leaking pus! She wanted a second opinion I said go to the hospital before you get sepsis!"
There are some things you should seek out MORE expensive than average, like Complex Dentistry or Heart Surgery etc, DO NOT GO CHEAPER for things like your health and wellbeing, which can be irreversibly harmed for what, to save a few £££ ?
Unfortunately, this Advert below for Dentistry Abroad shows what Threats and Dangers are possible to one's general medical and dental health, in the wrong hands, if their picture is anything to go by - can you see what would be unacceptable in the UK, never mind "highest quality" as they claim?
Please remember, these are THEIR ADVERTS MAKING SUCH BOLD Quality CLAIMS to the UK public!
These claims would be worrying for routine Dentistry Treatments, but for advanced Implants, deep Bone Surgery, Root canal and other complex treatments these are deeply concerning - thank goodness these pictures reveal some of the reality, which the Text claiming "Ultra Modern" and Highest Quality" is sadly incompatible with.
Dentists have been struck off in the UK for not wearing gloves and not using other proper patient protection, such as safety glasses!
Thus it seems then that their advert claiming " CANAL TREATMENT " isn't the only "THREAT" to your well-being if they believe these pictures are actually OK Standards or even represents their "Highest Quality", it begs the question what would their lowest quality look like?
Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be just one poorer Country's problem Abroad.....
Copied from © 2000-2010 Smile Specialist® & Tony©
Here is another example below, just look at the picture & text shown in this recent online advert (2008)
feature for supposedly cheaper and better dental care than in the UK.
Notice anything unusual here too?
Thank Goodness there was a picture to warn us all that such advertising claims may NOT match the reality when one is actually being treated in a cheaper way.
But it gets much much worse - read the recent BBC article below which says the increase in people going abroad for "apparently" cheaper surgery, is having a high health cost and negative consequences beyond just their own botch operations....
Copied from © 2000-2010 Smile Specialist® & Dr.Kilcoyne©
With diseases like HIV and increasing rates now of Hepatitis A, B, C, F & G abroad, as well as
the further East you go the more resistant infections are to any medical treatments back here in the UK
(eg: TB, Bird Flu, Conjunctivitis ), such risks can infect family members and others too!
Now people are panicking about Ebola transmission and travel too!
One cannot help wondering what else may be compromised that one cannot easily notice,
if such pictures featured in adverts are regarded as OK or normal in such countries!
Again, those were THEIR GENUINE ADVERTS MAKING SUCH BOLD CLAIMS to the UK public about Dental Surgery Abroad!
The UK's governing Dental regulator, the GDC, has issued public guidance on such Dental Tourism, to help people be aware of such risks to their Dental and Medical Health, which you can read below by following the link:
Copied from © 2000-201 Smile Specialist® & Tony©
See Official UK GDC Advice and warnings by clicking here!
In general, in Poorer Countries the Standards and Training are rarely
the same as UK, USA, Australia etc, no matter how "flash" the adverts or the exaggerated claims or the equipment looks!
It's cheaper for a reason and many of these Countries actually needed medical and dental aid, including medical and dental education, until only
relatively recently!
Please remember, the Expertise and Experience of the Operator are by far the most important thing in Complex Dentistry, or any Complex Surgery frankly, for both the Planning and the Operation - getting the Right thing done the Right way, first time, is the best approach.
Dr.Kilcoyne is a fully registered UK Specialist in Prosthodontics, which includes Implants, Crowns, Veneers, Dentures, Bonding etc, to Restore or Replace teeth functionally and cosmetically so you can have a Smile that you can be proud of, without compromise. Yes, all this expertise, experience and excellent track-record have a price, but we still believe it is Good Value for the level of Specialist Quality one is getting and can be confident in.
Click Here for Dr.Kilcoyne's detailed CV and Resume, for your reassurance.
Doing the wrong thing in the wrong way is very POOR Value for money longer term, even if it was cheaper in the first instance because your teeth ideally need to last for life and are NOT disposable like some cheap DVD bought on holiday abroad - your Health is far more valuable and non-disposable than that !!!
We have had to correct/redo cheaper work done abroad, but sadly this often costs two or three times the money of doing it well in the first place and occasionally, even our Specialist Skills cannot save some of the teeth that have had SO MUCH good tooth removed by poor dentistry techniques and low standards, that Extractions have been the only realistic option left sadly, even without the resistant infection risks from abroad to one's health generally.
Yes things like Dental Implants, Crowns, Veneers, Bridges, Root Canal Work, correcting worn bites and even Cosmetic fillings DO involve invading your body and so the person/dentist/surgeon doing this NEEDS to use their best skills, materials and techniques - compromise on any of these and you could compromise your Teeth longer-term, as well as your general medical Health too !
Remember many of these treatments are hand-made and/or involve laboratory items that are hand-made too, whose materials and specifications have to meet very strict rules and regulations and of course if they contain gold and other precious materials, they cost the same worldwide and are used even under Tooth Coloured Bonded Crowns or Bridges, as your body likes precious pure metals like gold, but of course these are not cheap either and I know if someone is claiming to use x% gold in their work and the price is less than the actual gold, someone is being Economical with the Truth as well as the Price.
At least if you buy cheap jewelry and it turns out to contain base metals instead like Nickel, Iron or Beryllium etc, you can easily remove it and throw it away if it irritates your skin or you get allergic to it (some 25% of Women now react allergically to the cheap metals in some jewelry!), but when it is glued into your mouth, you will be exposed to its effects for years and it's NOT so easily removed, is it?
In some countries abroad they often use "cheaper" laboratory work which isn't always subject to the UK's strict controls and high health standards, with some foreign-sourced Crowns even containing not just cheap substitutes for Gold and other precious metals, but even waste products or Lead - Click and see this News Report from the USA!
Please be assured that ALL of Dr.Kilcoyne's laboratory work at our SmileSpecialist® Centre, Yorkshire is made in the UK under the strictest health guidelines and follow Dr.Kilcoyne's very demanding standards for Quality, content and Cosmetic beauty that you will be enjoying and use for years and possibly decades after it has been fitted, paid for and the Price for such hand-made excellence forgotten long ago.
Are there other examples of people suffering from being attracted to "Cheap" dental treatment Abroad?
Sadly yes, this has been happening for a few years now and may even get worse in these recessionary times - see this story confirming this has been happening since 2006, in the Sunday Observer:
The full text of that article continues: "An estimated 2 million Britons are unable to find NHS dentists. New contracts introduced last April are said to have triggered a further exodus of practitioners from the service. Prices in the private sector can be high: a check-up costs on average between £50 and £70; a single porcelain crown £800; and dental implants £2,000 per tooth.
For those unwilling to wait for an NHS dentist and unable to pay for private treatment, travelling abroad is the only option. The experience is not always bad, though. Edward Leigh, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee and Conservative MP for Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, has admitted he regularly makes a 500-mile round trip to France for dental treatment and has urged the public to follow his lead.
Leigh had root canal treatment while on a skiing trip to the Alps earlier this year, paying about £62 for work that would have cost about £150 on the NHS or about £330 privately in Britain. 'I suggest if anyone needs a dentist then go to France,' he said. 'They are much cheaper and far easier to register with. There's no question of queuing.'
Training for East European dentists is of a sufficient standard for the NHS to employ them, but even if their treatment is good, dental work abroad frequently requires a series of expensive trips.
The academy says that as the number of those travelling abroad for treatment increases, so do the horror stories. 'I am seeing a sharply rising number of patients who have flown to all sorts of countries for treatment,' said Goolnik. 'The public needs to be very, very careful. These "holidays" may be very cheap, but the risk is of permanently mutilating your mouth and smile.'
The academy will open its annual conference on Friday with a plea to its 650 members to warn patients that cut-price procedures in foreign countries can destroy their teeth forever.
Oliver Harman, a London dentist, recently treated Naija Jones, 26, a female bartender who needed to rebuild 10 teeth worn away through illness. This would have cost around £9,000 in Britain. Unable to afford this, she travelled to Bulgaria and paid £1,200.Copied from © 2000-201 Smile Specialist® & Tony©
'I was shocked at the state of Naija's teeth,' said Harman, who works at Dentists in the City. 'The nerves had been removed from six upper teeth, and two teeth were taken out entirely, which by Western standards would amount to gross over-treatment, if not negligence.'
Jones now refuses to smile. 'I was almost too embarrassed to even show my dentist what had happened to me,' she said. 'It is going to cost me at least £11,000 to fix the damage. In my forties and fifties, I'll probably lose my front teeth altogether. This was the worst mistake of my life, and one I will never stop regretting.'End."
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But it doesn't have to be like that for you!
Dr.Kilcoyne is a fully registered UK Specialist in Prosthodontics, which includes Implants, Crowns, Veneers, Dentures, Bonding etc, to Restore or Replace teeth functionally and cosmetically so you can have a Smile that you can be proud of, without compromise. Yes, all this expertise, experience and excellent track-record have a price, but we still believe it is Good Value for the level of Specialist Quality one is getting and can be confident in.
Dr.Kilcoyne has won National Prizes for the Quality of his Patient Services, so you don't have to compromise!
We hope whether you seek your treatment from SmileSpecialist® or elsewhere, that the wide range of information provided on our Website will help you in discussions with your own Dentist, so you can fully consider which options best meet your needs, budget and long-term wishes for your Dental Health.
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*Dr.Kilcoyne is a UK registered Specialist in Prosthodontics (GDC No.58373) which includes The Functional and Cosmetic Dentistry aspects of Crowns, Dental Implants, Bridges, Veneers, Fillings, Dentures, Bonding etc. Please go to our MAKE an APPOINTMENT page if you'd like to access his Expertise.
The PLANNING of any Treatment Options is just as important as the Quality of Treatment - Dr.Kilcoyne can help you get both right, first time!
Wishing you good Dental Health AND a Smile to be proud of, from all at the SmileSpecialist® Team.
As always, Prevention is cheaper and better than Cure - that includes Preventing making bad choices based on costs alone!