The BBC ran a story online (14 July 2022) about the real cost of having dental treatment abroad. It supports their documentary ‘Turkey Teeth : Bargain Smiles or Big Mistake?’
Ashni Lakhani and Rob Brown have reported that the NHS is having to help people whose dreams have turned to nightmares, having had treatment in countries such as Turkey.
It is clear that not everyone comes home happy with the result of their cut-price dental treatment.
One lady of 48 travelled to Turkey to achieve the smile she was hoping for at her son’s wedding. She was expecting to have veneers, for which the teeth are just slightly shaved, but she was given crowns, so up to 70% of her teeth had been filed away. She was left with stubs under the glued-on caps, and ten months later, she has nerve sensitivity and severe pain. She’s not able to eat properly and has lost a lot of weight. Her face was almost paralysed with an infection and an abscess.
Whilst her overseas treatment cost £3,000, she’s now paid £2,000 for treatment which included two rounds of root canal work. Her choice for the future: dental implants or dentures.
The BBC has consulted UK dentists, one of whom advised that fitting 20 crowns just to improve the colour of the teeth would lead to serious consequences for him as a professional, and he would be struck off the register.
Out of 1,000 dentists surveyed by the British Dental Association for the BBC found that 597 had treated patients who had visited Turkey for dental work and were suffering from complications of having had crowns fitted.
The costs to carry out remedial work exceeded £5,000 for one in five of those patients.
What is of great concern to the public is that 346 dentists said that some of the remedial work was paid for by the NHS.
There is plenty of evidence which tells us that some people return very happily from dental treatment abroad, but as it’s not known how many UK people in total have made this decision, it’s not possible to inform the public of the level of risk of doing so.
You can watch the documentary here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0019gps/turkey-teeth-bargain-smiles-or-big-mistake
