Dental Tourism

An overview:

Travelling overseas for reasonable and inexpensive dental care, dental treatment, dental surgery, dental procedures, usually which are expensive in one’s own country is known as dental tourism. It is a subset of the sector known as medical tourism. It involves individuals seeking dental care outside of their local healthcare systems. Dental Tourism is a budding concept for a planned vacation along with total Dental solution and care. Also sometimes known as tooth tourism or dental travel, this isn’t a current concept. People who cannot afford and those who do not have a dental insurance are the ones who need to visit a dentist, to them dental tourism offers an elevated worthy alternative. In U.S, only 50% of the total population has dental insurance. Even those with comprehensive medical packages do not a have dental coverage. The main simple reason why many Americans go abroad for dental care is the price benefit that the foreign land offers and certainly it’s not uncommon to see an American go to the Mexico for bargaining deals on dental prosthetics, dental implants and discounts on dental crowns. While in Canada and certain parts of the European countries with national healthcare system, it’s the wide-ranging waiting list that results in their citizens turning towards other countries for their needs.

Cost and Quality

Dental tourism can offer a low cost and high quality alternative; people tend to opt for the best and affordable price and services in not one but various countries. However, India is capitalizing on its low cost and well-trained doctors to appeal to these "medical tourists" as it has some of the best hospitals and treatment centers in the world with the best facilities and with that its one of the most favored tourist destinations in the world. As health care costs skyrocket, patients in the developed world look overseas for medical care. India is capitalizing on its low cost and well-trained doctors to appeal to these "medical tourists". The cost of travelling to India is economical and the qualities of services are rather improved and enhanced than that found in the UK and USA. In fact, many patients are rather contented at the outlook of seeking medical attention in India while holidaying. Medical tourists find a true haven in India where medical tourism is promoted eloquently. Though tourists attach a variety of reasons for their travel, the major indicator is the cost for dental implants and dental surgery, which is generally cheap in India. For instance, a patient requiring root canal treatment might cost up to $600 and a tooth crowning may cost around $40000. However, same procedures cost around $35-125 in India.

While dental tourists may travel for a variety of reasons, their choices are usually driven by price considerations. Wide variations in the economics of countries with shared borders have been the historical mainstay of the sector. Patients who had travelled abroad to receive treatment revealed an average satisfaction rating of 84%, along with an average cost saving of $6,400, or 60% of the cost of their treatment locally. Cost is the sole reason why people considered Dental Tourism in the first place, but when it came to choosing which clinic to visit, quality was the deciding factor.

Reasons and Benefits

The benefits and reasons of Medical Tourism include its low cost, high quality, immediate service, great convenience and travel opportunities and usually their choices are driven by price contemplations. The historical mainstay of this sector can be directly pointed towards wide variations in the economics of countries who share borders, for e.g., the travel from Austria to Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia, the US to Mexico, from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland, Hungary, Turkey and Poland.

While medical tourism is often generalized to travel from high-income countries to low-cost developing economies, other factors can influence a decision to travel, including differences between the funding of public healthcare or general access to healthcare.

Here’s a look into the price differences and comparison of prices of treatment in various countries

From the above one can note considerable financial incentives to undertake exclusive treatment overseas, such activities including the travel expenses and accommodation can be exclusively lower than undertaking the same procedures at one’s own country.

Proper Groundwork

Merely going to a country as a tourist and having to find a dentist there rather than to find them on the internet, one would certainly be taking a big risk by just walking into a clinic without any prior research. Though prices can be researched online in comparison with various sites offering certain lists, more than that, one can also acquire a better idea as to the qualifications of dentists around the world. References, e-mail contacts can be obtained through e-mails and so also information regarding accommodations, travelling locally etc. Apart from this if you just walk into any unknown clinics, you don’t know the amount they charge, or if they are really reputed and known. Hence prices are not the only consideration. For example, in Mexico, many dentists have taken a course for a couple of months and started placing dental implants who are just regular general practitioners. One cannot expect them to do a good job as some specialist who has an intense 2 years training on implants and one who is now a certified as a trained super specialist. Usually internet provides options to ask for credentials, references, prices beforehand, and schedule with the respective clinic to get the work done in a lot quicker manner, without much delays and with this one can certainly take an conversant resolution and choose sensibly.

Choosing the Right Location

The most important among various considerations is the location because if one goes all the way to any country namely India or Singapore or Argentina for a dental procedure, and then there are few complications or any wrong that might happen in the future, it would be a long way to go back again to the same destination and get if fixed. Hence the best way would be to choose a place that’s easily accessible and so are the people choosing to go to Tijuana, Mexico from US. As procedures require numerous steps, or succeeding checkups, the patient may have to return to the same doctor for multiple reasons.

Conclusion

People residing in the UK, Europe are certainly looking ahead for a better and inexpensive dental care and nearly half of the population in the US is still without an appropriate dental coverage. Times have changed, and now one of the hottest destinations today for dental tourism is Budapest, Hungary. Superlative dental clinics with extremely well-trained dental care professionals await patients from outside and traveling to Budapest is simple to arrange, with direct flights operating daily. People from all over the world have begun to consider Budapest one of the capitals of dental tourism. Cash-rich multi-million dollar companies have abridged health benefits for employees. Several Fortune 500 companies are offering bonuses to employees willing to seek medical or dental care abroad, which in-turn saves the company money on insurance premiums.

History of Medical Tourism

The historical lineage between medical and travel can be traced back to the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Japanese. These days this relationship between the medical and travel can be easily termed as Medical Tourism.
The earliest destinations of people on health pilgrimages were mineral-rich thermal springs, natural resources which have been utilized for their therapeutic qualities for eons. As early as 4000 BC, Sumerians were constructing health facilities around hot springs. It was the ancient Greeks, who built the first major medical tourism sites.
The world’s first health centers were the Asclepia Temples, which were erected to honor the Greek god of medicine. However the highlights of the era 300 BC were the Therapeutic Temples that rose throughout the Greek domain, the facility at Epidaurus (or Epidauria), which boasted a gymnasium, snake farm, and a dream temple as well as the usual hot baths.
People traveled from all over the entire known world to seek treatment in the Mediterranean because of the major expansion of the Roman Empire. The largest breakthrough in this was the Mansuri Hospital that was constructed in 1248 AD, in Cairo, which became the largest and most advanced hospital the world had ever seen. This was a unique hospital as it promised to serve anyone, regardless of race, religion, or wealth, as it drew health travelers from far and wide.
One mustn’t forget the contribution Asia, as the Mineral springs in Japan called Onsen have been popular for their healing properties with travelers for 1000 years. The practice of yoga gained popularity 5,000 years ago; India too has been visited by a constant stream of health travelers seeking to heal themselves through alternative medicine.
In Europe the elite rediscovered the Roman baths and as a result booming medical tourism to great heights in the 16th century. Tourist towns grew around spas in towns like St. Mortiz, Ville d'Eaux, Baden Baden, and especially Bath, a town that enjoyed a royal patronage that made it famous world-wide. The word "spa," which comes from the Roman phrase for "health through waters" ("salude per aqua"), began to be used around this time for any wellness facility which did not practice traditional clinical medicine.
In principle, the concept of medical tourism is not something new in India. According to medical tourism in India, medical tourism is an ancient practice of tourism on the procedure for medical treatment and medical sites in India. The first trend of medical tourism took place thousands of years ago during a trip Greek pilgrims through the Mediterranean Sea modest domination of the Saronic Gulf, which is known as Epidauria. History of medical tourism in India also describes that the entire spa town have been regarded as the best destinations for medical tourism.
With a healthy climate and rich greenery, Kerala is recognized as a major troop of medical tourism in India and in addition, it has a wide variety of herbs and medicinal plants as well as ancient Ayurvedic treatments. Apart from Kerala, Karnataka is another destination for medical tourism in India. As a cosmopolitan nation, India has a rich history of Ayurveda and procedures for Ayurvedic treatment.
People have been traveling for centuries in the name of health and in 18th and 19th century Europeans and Americans journeyed to spas and remote retreats hoping to cure tuberculosis. But surgery abroad is a fairly modern phenomenon. As health costs rose in the 1980s and 1990s, patients looking for affordable options started considering their options offshore. So-called "tooth tourism" grew quickly, with Americans traveling to Central American countries like Costa Rica for dental bridges and caps not covered by their insurance. (A large percentage of today's medical tourism is for dental work, as much as 40% by some estimates.)
U.S. doctors and dentists were dismayed at the idea of their patients turning to foreign hospitals for care that they considered dangerously contemptible. But where many U.S. medical professionals saw great peril, countries like Cuba saw biggest opportunities. Beginning in the late 1980s, the island country started programs to lure foreigners from India, Latin America and Europe for eye surgeries, heart procedures and cosmetic procedures. The Cuban government said it welcomed 2,000 medical tourists in 1990.
After the collapse of Thailand's currency in 1997, the government directed its tourism officials to market the country as a hot destination for plastic surgery, hoping to boost revenues. Thailand quickly became the go-to country for comparatively inexpensive sex-change operations, where patients faced fees as low as $5,000, as well as looser requirements for pre-surgery psychological counseling. Thailand is now a destination spot for all types of plastic surgery as well as a host of routine medical procedures.
Over the years, companies across U.S. have spiralled up to guide Americans through the insurance and logistical hurdles of surgery abroad; including many in U.S. Border States. The physician-managed MedToGo in Tempe, Arizona, founded in 2000, says its clients save "up to 75% on medical care" by getting it in Mexico. The Christua Muguerza hospital system — located in Mexico, but run by U.S.-based Christian hospital group since 2001 — includes a scrolling text box on its web site informing visitors how "very close to you" its Mexican facilities are. In the interim, New Zealand is proclaiming its expertise in hip and knee replacements and South Korea is alluring medical travelers with high-end non-medical amenities like golf.
The medical tourism industry has experienced gigantic growth over the past decade. As many as 150,000 U.S. citizens underwent medical treatment abroad in 2006 — the majority in Asia and Latin America. That number grew to an estimated 750,000 in 2007 and could reach as high as 6 million by 2010. Patients are packing suitcases and boarding planes for everything from face lifts to heart bypasses to fertility treatments.
All over history, health travel was restricted either to the wealthy or truly desperate. But in today’s flattening global economy, the physical, economic, and cultural barriers that once separated nations from one another are melting.
These progresses decipher into a smorgasbord of options for patients who find it difficult to access affordable health care in their home states. While affordability and time are still the main reasons why patients trudge across borders for surgery, issues like quality and service are also important factors as well. In fact, medical procedures abroad are often better than what you would expect from primary health care centers back home.
Most countries vying for a slice of the multi-billion dollar medical tourism pie have expanded their offerings and begun advertising aggressively. Competition has led to niche specialties with Israel offering male infertility treatments and South Africa promoting medical safaris. With a boost in the number of participating nations and available procedures, medical tourism is clearly a global phenomenon that is here to stay.