Contents
Dental Implants in Turkey: What you need to know.
Is it worth going to Turkey for dental implants?
Why do people choose to go abroad for dental implants?
Are dental implants cheaper in Turkey?
How much are teeth implants in Turkey?
Is dental implant aftercare very important?
Questions to ask yourself when considering dental implants abroad.
Will UK dentists work on Turkey teeth?
Do you have to go without teeth whilst waiting for dental implants?
Contact EvoDental for clear and transparent dental implant prices in the UK.
Is it worth going to Turkey for dental implants?
Dental tourism is nothing new – millions of people travel from the UK to countries and cities across the globe each year for dental and cosmetic procedures, including dental implants.
While many of these treatments are successful and change people’s lives for the better, this is sadly not the case for everyone – often leaving many needing UK dentists to pick up the pieces.
In their 2022 survey of dental professionals, the British Dental Association (BDA) found some shocking results which will give those considering dental tourism real reasons to think again.
Out of the 1,000 dentists surveyed, 94% (940 dentists in total) examined patients who have received dental treatment abroad, and their findings were as follows:
- 86% of cases (over 808 patients) required treatment in the UK to correct complications and problems stemming directly from dental tourism.
- Crowns and dental implants are the treatments that most commonly need further treatment in the UK, in 86% and 85% of cases respectively.
- The most common complications include failing or failed treatment (86%), intolerable pain (76%), or poorly executed treatment (72%).
The effect of substandard treatment doesn’t only affect your health, but your pocket too – with patients that needed remedial treatment paying:
- At least £500 – in 65% of cases (611 patients)
- More than £1,000 – in 51% of cases (479 patients)
- Exceeding £5,000 – in 20% of cases (188 patients)
When they returned back to the UK.
With this in mind, why do people choose countries like Turkey or Mexico for dental implants?
Why do people choose to go abroad for dental implants?
One of the main reasons, if not the biggest reason, why people choose all on 4 dental implants in Turkey, is the price.
However, it’s not the only justification – additional reasons commonly cited for choosing a foreign country for dental treatment include:
- Being able to combine your treatment with a holiday
- Personal recommendations from previous patients.
Being able to combine your treatment with a holiday
Another common reason for choosing dental implants in Turkey is the idea that patients can combine flying out for treatment and a personal holiday.
While this may be possible for patients who undergo minor procedures, patients going for dental implants in Turkey (or similar dental tourism destinations) may not be able to enjoy typical holiday activities, like sightseeing and day trips.
This is because:
- Packages for dental implants in Turkey have fixed itineraries
Clinics abroad fly patients in and out as soon as they can, leaving little to no spare time for holiday activities.
This allows them to pay as little as possible for cheap flights and hotel stays, maximising their profits.
- Flights and hotel stays are often pre-booked for your specific stay duration only
This can mean you have no flight home or no place to stay if you try to change pre-arranged bookings.
If an agreement can be reached, you will certainly find yourself eligible for any extra costs when changing bookings, which can quickly add up.
- You might not feel well enough to explore the area
As treatment timelines are condensed to the few days you have in the country, you could find that you take longer to recover than you expect.
This means you may not feel up to visiting the local sights – and might end up seeing nothing more than your chosen hospital and your recovery hotel for your whole trip.
- Extending your treatment into a trip will make it more expensive
As the most common reason for choosing dental implants in Turkey is a reduced price, the added cost of extending your treatment into a holiday can mean that patients will spend as much or more than they would spend using a reputable dentist in the UK.
For some people, this may seem logical, because they assume they will be able to enjoy a holiday, too – but once you add in recovery time and the risk of lower standards of care, it might not be worth it.
Personal recommendations from previous patients
Clinics that offer treatments abroad often pay past patients to advertise their clinic or a particular doctor on their social media accounts in the UK – sometimes referred to as social selling.
Past patients who agree to do this generally do so because they were happy with their treatment and they want to help people – but there may be a financial reward for them if they can send others out for the same or similar treatments.
This can result in them being paid on commission for every patient that receives treatment.
This is an important factor to bear in mind. Though the person will likely have your best interests at heart, they may also stand to benefit financially from your dental implants in Turkey.
This is problematic because:
- The information you receive is not truly impartial
- Your judgement can be clouded, so you could take risks you otherwise wouldn’t have taken if you don’t understand how social selling works
- It can affect your relationship with this person if things don’t go as expected
Are dental implants cheaper in Turkey?
By far the biggest reason for dental tourism is the price.
People consider the price of dental implants in Turkey, Mexico, or other countries, because – to put it most simply – advertised package prices can be around 75% lower than dental implant treatment in the UK.
Which, if you are on a limited budget, can be far too tempting an offer to pass up on.
But is a tooth implant in Turkey a price you should be paying or are the lower prices a red flag you are ignoring?
How much are teeth implants in Turkey?
As in the UK, there is a degree of variation for dentists in Turkey, the prices that they charge, and the experience they have – which influences the price of full-mouth dental implants.
Some clinics advertise prices as low as £1,900 for all on 4 dental implants and a full mouth reconstruction for only £4,400 – offering reported savings of 76% and 73% respectively.
But how can the full-mouth dental implants in Turkey price be so low?
Factors that contribute to a lower cost include:
- Materials
- Aftercare
- Regulations
Dental implant materials
Adding non-native materials to the body, in the form of dental implants, joint replacements, and prosthetic limbs, isn’t a simple process.
In order to last for as long as possible and not harm the body, all materials need to be biocompatible and ideally should encourage a process called osseointegration.
Biocompatible materials are highly regulated and have no detrimental local or systemic responses once placed in the body – keeping everything in order and not interfering with natural processes.
Materials that encourage osseointegration, such as the titanium in dental implants, allow the addition to fuse well with the bone and encourage the development of new bone around the implant, so it is almost impossible to accidentally remove and will stay strong for decades.
All materials used by UK dentists are highly regulated, undergo rigorous testing, and are fully traceable with serial numbers.
To make all on 4 dental implants in Turkey cheaper, some providers may use poor quality materials that are not as rigorously tested, monitored, or traceable as those providers may use in the UK – increasing the risk of implant failure and future problems.
Is dental implant aftercare very important?
As with every operation or procedure, proper aftercare ensures the successful results of the treatment you have opted for and helps wounds recover, while also lowering the chances of infection.
In the UK, aftercare generally includes:
- Multiple in-person appointments – which involve examinations and scans to ensure your dental implants are bonding well with your jawbone
- Certain medications – like effective pain relief and antibiotics
However, if you choose to go for dental implants in Turkey, return visits are highly unlikely, and only issues that occur immediately after surgery can be rectified – meaning that if you have anything to discuss after, especially once you return home, you are unlikely to get an adequate response.
Especially when you add in the additional consideration of a language barrier!
Dental implant regulations
Another very important consideration involves regulatory and registration standards – which are not the same in all countries across the world.
In the UK, dentists must be registered with the General Dental Council and adhere to the standards of the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This protects their patient, especially if something goes wrong, ensures any corrective treatment is carried out if needed, and guarantees that all dental professionals are following the same ethical code of conduct.
If you go abroad for dental implants, you cannot assume that they will follow the same specific standards and regulations – as each country will have its own regulatory standards.
Failure to research these standards or going to providers that fail to uphold the standards you expect can be a danger, resulting in dental implant failure and serious infection in the worst-case scenarios.
Should I get Turkey teeth?
To ensure dental implant treatment is successful, it is essential that patients consider more than the dental implants in Turkey cost – as it is clear that the reduced cost of treatment is not necessarily an indicator of implant success.
Cost should not be the defining factor in your decision-making process. Time and consideration must be given to factors such as long-term outcomes, quality of treatment, and your overall quality of life once the treatment is complete.
Moreover, as the dental implants in Turkey price can change depending on the provider you choose, you should thoroughly research your options and speak to the dental professionals beforehand if possible.
Which will allow you to make a fully informed decision.
Questions to ask yourself when considering dental implants abroad
With so much to consider before you book treatment, be sure to reflect on the most common questions asked by patients seeking dental implants in Turkey.
Will UK dentists work on Turkey teeth?
UK dentists will do their utmost to ensure that you are pain-free and able to eat, but unfortunately, there will likely be limitations based on where you can seek rectifying treatment if your Turkey teeth have issues when you return.
For instance, the NHS will only provide ‘clinically necessary treatment needed to keep your mouth, teeth and gums healthy and free of pain.’ Depending on the situation, they may not be able to correct failing or failed dental implant treatment – and it is more likely they will remove them altogether and offer you dentures.
Likewise, private dentists may attempt to correct your dental implant treatment if they believe it to be possible, but depending on the condition of your mouth and other circumstances, they may not be able to correct and save your Turkey teeth.
If this is the case, it’s likely you will then have to pay for and undergo further treatment upon your return – including removing treatment that has failed – increasing the potential cost.
Do you have to go without teeth whilst waiting for dental implants?
Some practices that advertise dental implants in Turkey may offer the feature of receiving a prosthesis on the same day as the surgery – sometimes called immediate implants or ‘smile in a day’ dental implants.
Some UK providers have quite strict parameters that patients need to meet to be eligible for a same day smile, while others don’t offer immediate placement at all – leaving patients with temporary teeth or dentures for a few months while their mouth heals and the dental implant fuses with the jaw.
To market treatment to patients looking to avoid this, dentists in Turkey often state that treatment is concluded within the day. However, there is no way of being sure that your treatment can be completed in a single day until your mouth has been examined in person and detailed scans have been taken.
If you are not suitable, a same day smile may not be possible and a longer recovery time with temporary teeth may be required – which will be even harder to manage if you need to return to the UK partway through.
Instead of travelling abroad, expert clinics in the UK, like EvoDental, can perform immediate placement treatments on the same day as surgery, even if the candidate has complex needs and other dentists have advised that the treatment is not possible.
Where in Turkey to get teeth done?
The most popular areas for dental tourism in Turkey include:
- Istanbul
- Antalya
- Izmir
- Ankara
This is because dental tourism rates and the clinics doing the most online advertising are likely to be situated in the largest cities of a country.
Likewise, this is also because the largest medical and dental facilities tend to be near bigger cities because of the increased population and demand.
However, just because a large clinic is carrying out treatments, it does not necessarily mean that dental implants abroad are right for you – you should continue to research thoroughly and compare treatment options to UK providers, such as EvoDental, to be sure.
Is Turkey good for dental implants?
People considering dental implants in Turkey often want a single yes or no answer.
Unfortunately, however, the question is quite complex and can change for every patient who flies out for dental implants.
In the short term, patients can be happy to pay for cheaper procedures, thanks to the decreased price of dental implants in Turkey.
But once the treatment is complete, this happiness is often short-lived, thanks to common complications, including:
- Increased chances of infection
- Lower quality materials
- Misplaced dental implants
- Failed implants
These complications will need to be corrected when back in the UK – at further additional costs.
Instead of going abroad, using a UK dental implant expert may cost slightly more at the outset, but will garner high-quality results that last for years to come.
Contact EvoDental for clear and transparent dental implant prices in the UK
If you have decided that dental implants are your preferred option for restoring your bite and transforming your smile, contact UK-based EvoDental today.
We have a choice of purpose-built clinics across the UK and never hide our prices, showcasing transparent pricing with a range of finance options – offering patients full flexibility and an informed choice.
You can call us on 0800 470 3061 or request a free consultation for more information and we’ll get back to you within 48 hours.