If you have missing teeth, dental implants could be the perfect solution. Quality implants are not cheap, and this has caused many people to travel overseas for treatment. Whilst this might be a lower cost option in the short term, the long-term costs of having dental implants abroad should give you cause for concern.
It’s super important to do your research before getting dental implants – after all, they will affect your appearance for the rest of your life. We’ve put together seven of the most alarming facts about getting dental implants abroad to help you decide the best option for you.
1. Dental implants abroad have hidden costs
Dental implants are usually carried out over several appointments, with the notable exception of our ‘Smile in a Day’ treatment. As a UK based dental implant specialist, EVO Dental are registered with the General Dental Council, and have years of experience and all the necessary qualifications to place your implants properly.
‘Clinics’ abroad that promise to carry out dental implants in one appointment are generally not to be trusted. You’ll probably need to see your dentist two or three times over the course of a few months before your dental work is complete. If you choose to have your implants abroad, this means that on top of the implants themselves, you’ll need to pay for flights, hotels and book time off work for each appointment.
2. Lower quality dental implants abroad
If you choose to get dental implants abroad, you’ll need to do some serious research into practice, training and accreditation. What is completely unacceptable dental practice in one country, or even one region of a country, may be considered perfectly acceptable in another. All UK dental practices must be registered and are fully regulated. This is often not the case abroad, which could easily lead to you receiving dental implants which are shoddy, unattractive and sometimes even painful.
3. The cost of fixing failed dental implants is not purely financial
The lure of having dental implants abroad is largely financial for most people. However, the long-term costs of fixing failed dental implants include a lot more than just money.
Dentists abroad are often unregulated and do not have the specialist skills, knowledge and experience required to place dental implants. Because of this, the implants frequently fail, and need to be removed. In cases where the failure of the implant isn’t recognised for some time, a bone graft is sometimes necessary. This is obviously a huge financial cost, but the physical and emotional impact of failed dental implants should not be underestimated.
Choosing a dentist abroad to place your implants may seem like a much cheaper option. However, if your implants fail, it will be far more costly both financially and emotionally than simply visiting a UK based dental implant specialist in the first place.
4. Lack of aftercare when getting dental implants abroad
It’s also important to consider the costs of aftercare. If you take good care of quality implants, they should last a lifetime. However, the crowns that are attached to the implants themselves may wear down over time.
If the work is done by qualified dentists, using quality materials, your crowns could last 30 years or more. On the other hand, if inadequate materials are used to carry out the initial dental work – as is often the case abroad – the crowns could wear away in as little as three years.
Many UK clinics refuse to treat work that has been carried out by another dentist. This means that you’d potentially have to travel back to the same substandard clinic that carried out your dental work overseas.
5. Language barriers are a frequent problem
Whilst the glossy dental implant marketing brochure may be written in fluent English, when you arrive for your dental implant procedure in another country, you may find that communicating is a problem. This would obviously be extremely concerning and is likely to be incredibly stressful for you. How will the dentist explain what they are going to do? What if you have any questions or concerns?
Many foreign dental implant ‘specialists’ put a lot of money into fancy marketing materials and translation, but once you get there, the dentist may not speak any English at all.
6. No legal recourse if dental implants abroad fail
If you choose to have your dental implants in the UK and there’s a problem with your treatment, you could go to a solicitor and seek compensation to get it fixed.
On the other hand, if you travel overseas for treatment, you’ll probably find that it’s much more difficult to take legal action against your dentist. The laws on dental treatment abroad are often a little haphazard, to say the least, and then there’s the language barrier with the solicitor to contend with!
7. No guarantee for dental implants abroad
Here at EVO Dental, we take full responsibility for follow up treatments, provided that you follow the aftercare instructions and attend your follow up appointments. We also have a three-year biological and mechanical warranty on all our work.
Sadly, the same cannot be said for dental implants that are placed overseas. In fact, one of the reasons that they’re so cheap is that they often don’t provide any follow up care. If you’re not happy with the result, you could find that you have no recourse whatsoever.
Talk to us today for dental implants to be proud of
We understand that the lower cost of having dental work done abroad is attractive. However, it’s so important that you consider all the things that could potentially go wrong.
Although dental implants in the UK are not cheap, our range of finance options makes our expertise accessible to everyone who needs it.
To find out if our EvoSolution is right for you – get in touch with our team on 0800 470 3050 Click to Call or fill in our quick contact form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.